The Color of Magic
by Contra-Normal
Summary: Alexia Hendrix has just moved from America to England. She's about to go to Hogwarts in less than a month and she's really excited! But when an accidental combining of spells...changes her, shall we say, how will she deal with going to Hogwarts as a freak (at least, by her own standards)? Would a certain dashing ginger accept her if he knew? I'm aiming for the 'student' experience.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hiya! This is my first fic, like I said in the summary, so anything you want to say would be appreciated! I have a bunch of chapters already written, but once I upload all of that, things will probably slow down a bit. Well, enjoy! **

It started on a Friday. I was sitting at home, reading to my little sister, Lizzie, who was experimenting with her new broomstick (in the house, of course). She was absolutely certain that someday, she would move to England and be the best chaser they had ever seen, and I didn't want to crush her dreams, at least not yet. Since we lived in America, I thought it unlikely she would ever truly leave for England besides the occasional trip to see a famous game. She had pestered me into getting Dad's book on Quidditch and reading it to her. I was sitting with my feet propped on the coffee table, reading from _Quidditch through the Ages_. Our house elf, Mitzi, was bobbing anxiously near a fragile vase, which Lizzie was gradually flying closer to.

I was explaining "cobbing" to her when I heard the familiar pecking of an owl on the window. I felt excitement coursing through me as I stood up from the table. I was 11, and I was expecting a letter from the Salem Witches' Academy any day now for my letter of acceptance. It was really disappointing to see, every time, that it was just a letter from this or that person, not SWA.

_This time is different_, I told myself, _this is the letter, no doubt about it! _I rushed to the window, squeezing past my floating sister, and saw…my Mom's owl, Harper. Definitely not an SWA owl.

I opened the window and she hopped inside, settling on the windowsill. Lizzie intoned, "Oh, it's just Mom's owl," My thoughts exactly. I untied the letter from her leg and walked back to the table while Harper flew back out of the window. I tore it open as I sat down. It was one of the routine notes she sent home every few days.

All it said was, "I'll be staying late tonight. Dad and I will be coming home to talk to you about something that has recently come up. Have a productive day, girls!" I felt slightly disappointed it was so short, but I was now curious. What couldn't she tell us in the note? I was suddenly nervous. Maybe SWA had told her that I was ineligible for the academy! _Calm down_, I told myself, _You're just overreacting_. Lizzie got impatient, so she dismounted, ran over to me and attempted to read over my shoulder. I leaned away and covered the note saying, "Hey, chill, Lizzie! I was going to read it to you!" She backed off.

I told her what the cryptic note said. She seemed just as surprised as I was. But then, of course, she lost interest in the situation because of the tray of cookies Mitzi was, successfully, using to tempt her away from her broom. So much for speculating with her. I signaled for Mitzi to send up some cookies to my room. She nodded and went to the kitchen for a plate as I walked out of the room and up the spiral staircase to my loft.

My loft was a cozy area, depending on your definition of cozy. I had 2 rooms and a bathroom to myself. One of the 2 rooms was my bedroom; the other had recently become my library. Well, it was more of a small-collection-of-books room. The color scheme of all the rooms was purple, the color of my favorite house at SWA, Fairweather. Literally _everything_ was purple. The walls were splattered with random spots of purple, all different shades, on a background of lavender (thank you, paintballs!). All the light sconces, hooks, and picture frames were tinted purple metal. My bed frame was made of ash wood because it was the easiest wood to dye purple. My bed sheets were purple with an "SWA" in copper-colored lettering. I'd even had my parents tint my pictures purple as a joke one year! I think I've made my point that my bedroom was filled to the brim with purple.

A little on the aforementioned Fairweather house at SWA. The house is named after Hannah Fairweather, who won the title of "Best Scholar at the School". Pretty prestigious, huh? The name of the house changes with each new "Best Scholar". And there are few enough of those; Hannah has had her name on the house for a record-breaking 40 years! The house is almost like a fraternity, except that it's co-sexual and based solely on academics. They play in the big leagues over there. It'll be hard to get in, but I feel obligated to at least try.

I headed to my library. I'm proud to say that it's quite extensive for having been barely added to until a few years ago. I had purposely made myself _not _buy a bunch of books about SWA. I had to remind myself that SWA was going to be only 8 years of my life, so they would be pointless afterwards. To be sure I didn't miss anything interesting, I picked up random books from every bookstore I saw, of every kind of subject. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover. Plus, who knew what kind of interesting things could be hidden in one of them!

When I had picked a book up off a table, I strolled back out to my bed and plopped down next to the plate of cookies that had appeared on my bedside table. If I had to wait for my parents to get home, then I was going to wait in comfort.

I glanced down at the book in my lap and did a double-take. I thought I had picked up the novel I'd started a week ago, a stereotypical fantasy about a knight slaying a dragon and saving a damsel in distress, but this was a book called "Hogwarts, A History", about some far-off school in England! How did I miss that?! Well, they did have a similar cover, a castle surrounded by a dense forest with mountains in the background. I was already sitting down, so I grabbed a cookie and started to read.

It was really interesting, actually! The school, named the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which was deemed the "finest school of magical education in Europe." There were four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The students were "sorted" into the houses at the beginning of their first year. They used Godric Gryffindor's hat to sort them. Weird!

I read and read and read until I was ¾th's of the way through. I looked up and saw that the windows were dark. Mom and Dad should be getting home soon! I put my book down, stretched luxuriously, and then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Lizzie was sitting quietly, reading _Quidditch through the Ages _intently. Of course.

Just as I was about to ask if Mom and Dad were home yet, they walked through the door, looking tired and downcast. Dad saw us both sitting at the table and said, "Good, you're together. We can just tell you here." And that was _definitely_ not suspicious.

Mom came over to us and sat down with a pained expression, like she really, _really_ wanted to be anywhere but here. Dad followed her over and said, "We have some news, girls…we're moving to England. In two weeks." Utter silence greeted this statement.

He hurried on, "My job has moved me to London, and so…we're going. Salem Witch Academy was contacted, and you have been taken off the roster, Alexia." It felt like the floor had dropped out from beneath me. His words circled around in my head as I tried to think of an answer. I can't be sure, but I think I said, "O-okay, Dad."

SWA was my life! I couldn't just move to England and leave everything I had behind; my friends, my house, and the school I'd grown up planning to go to! I couldn't, could I?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Oh my gosh, people are actually reading my story! The first few chapters will be kind of slow, but hang with me. I wonder if anyone can guess what ginger I talked about in the summary?**

Something pinged in my memory through the shock that was making my thoughts sluggish. King's Cross Station, the place that the Hogwarts Express picked up students for school, was in London. If I wasn't going to SWA, I would go to the next closest school to our new house. That would be Hogwarts.

"So I'll be going to Hogwarts, then?" They looked nonplussed, like they didn't expect me to know what Hogwarts was. "I read a book about schools in Europe," I explained, trying to sound casual. "So?"

"Yes," Dad said finally, "you'll be going to Hogwarts. So will you, Lizzie, when you turn eleven next year." Lizzie, who had been quiet during this whole conversation, nodded solemnly.

After another few awkward moments of quiet, Dad signaled Mitzi to make dinner; we all dispersed to get ready. I sprinted up the spiral staircase, all pretense of casualness gone. I ran into the library and went over to the nearest shelf, frantically searching for anything and everything to do with the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All I had was the book I had found earlier. Curses!

I set it aside to finish after dinner. I nearly opened it and continued, but I told myself that I needed to talk to family about this move more than I needed to read about a school I wouldn't be going to for some time. I changed from my lazy-day clothes into some black pants and a loose sweater, and then tied my hair up in a fancy up-do. I looked in the mirror to check the outfit and my reflection looked back. I was a wiry girl with long, straight, reddish hair and stormy blue eyes. My face was stuck in a perpetual dreamy expression, so I often had to concentrate on looking focused. Satisfied that I was presentable, I traipsed down the stairs, my mind still in the library.

I tried to think of what I already knew about this place from reading the other book. Let's see, the four founders were Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin, each with their own Quidditch team. All students belonged in one house or the other. It was kind of like Salem, except you got into those by hard work, not by hat, however that worked. Salem…I couldn't believe I wasn't going there anymore! But wait…Dad worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. There was no reason for Dad to be sent to England. There was something they weren't telling Lizzie and I. Now I was burning with curiosity; I just _had_ to find out why they were yanking me out of my life like this. But that would have to wait until dinner.

As I walked down a hall leading to the dining room, I heard Mom and Dad's voices arguing. I was instantly interested; Mom and Dad don't fight very often, so this must be about something important. Maybe Mom was trying to convince Dad not to move us, to just find another job that wouldn't make us leave America! A tiny hope flared in my chest at the thought that I might, just might, get to go to SWA after all. I told myself not to hope, because there was only the very slimmest chance that would happen, but I did anyway. Unsurprisingly, that hope was killed as soon as I had sneaked close enough to the door to make out what they were saying.

"Don't you think it's a little obvious we're not telling them everything, Dan? You work in the Abuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, for crying out loud! There's no viable reason for your office to suddenly pick up and move you to London that we could give to any nosy busybody who happened to ask! And how are we supposed to move all of our things from Texas to England in two weeks?! TWO WEEKS! That's how long they give us to leave the house we've lived in for years just so you can do…whatever you're going to do in London! Are they crazy?! We'll have to tell the girls, too, or they'll try to delay the move as long as possible and we'll need every scrap of time we have as it is!" Mom let all that out in a hushed whisper, but I could tell that if they had been sure they wouldn't be overheard, she would be talking much louder. At least I knew I was right to suspect some secrecy.

Dad was quiet for a while, and then proceeded to say, "I know it's going to be hard, but we have to make it work! At least when we move, we'll have magic on our side, unlike Muggles. We can do this in half the time, I promise you! The girls will just have to do it anyway, and we'll impress the importance of leaving soon on them. There's nothing else we can do! I don't want to involve them in this; they should be allowed their ignorance as long as possible. You know what it will do to them when we finally _do_ tell them what they want me to do in London. They'll be worried out of their minds! And we can't just say no to this job, either. He got too close to home last time. When he comes back, _when_, not if, Elise, I need to be in a position to help the federal government. This is the only way. We just…we need to keep our heads down and move fast."

There was a thoughtful silence, by which time I decided that I'd heard enough. I tiptoed back down the hallway, then turned around and walked back, making sure they could hear me coming by tripping (rather painfully, actually) in the hallway. As I strolled through the door, wincing, I saw them sitting in their usual spots on the opposite sides of the table, staring daggers at each other. I filed their conversation away for contemplation later. I sat down at my usual place and said, "I'm hungry. Do you know what Mitzi chose to make tonight?"

They shook their heads absent-mindedly, still trying to have a silent conversation. Lizzie came in a few seconds later, skipping happily. I noticed and angrily asked her, "Why are you so happy? We're moving to England!" She just smiled and said, "Now I can be a chaser!" I had forgotten about her dream to move to England; this only made it worse.

A few awkward minutes of silence later, Mitzi finally bustled into the room, carrying a tray piled with what looked like an assortment of our family's notorious comfort foods. She winked at me as she placed my food on the table in front of me; I winked back by way of thanking her. As we all started eating, it occurred to me that Mom and Dad had been arguing over what to tell us about why we were moving. I figured I should at least make them sweat a little for making me go through with this.

"So, why's your job making you move, Dad? Are they having trouble with Americans in England?"

Mom and Dad glanced at each other nervously, and he didn't answer right away. Apparently they hadn't decided what to tell us. Lizzie was interested now; she looked up from her food, gazing at our parents curiously.

"Yeah, why's your office moving us away? What did you do?!" Lizzie was, at least, trying to be serious.

He cleared his throat, glanced at Mom again, and said, "No, pumpkin, I didn't do anything. They just…um…" He stopped awkwardly and looked at Mom, soundlessly begging her for help.

"The Ministry of Magic in England is understaffed in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office and they asked for some help from our government. There's only 2 employees in the office now, not counting your father." She glared, irritated, at her husband. He silently thanked her, looking helpless.

"Yes, but why would the American government send _American_ citizens? They wouldn't know the laws or be technically qualified for the job in the same way as the others." I could see them starting to sweat when they realized their story was falling apart.

"Oh, well," Dad spoke up, trying to sound confident, but failing miserably."The laws are basically the same in both contries, and they are happy to have anyone to help, what with being so understaffed at the moment."

"You're missing one big point in your defense, actually. The English magical government would only ever ask the American magical government for help if there was some very serious trouble in the country. There is no such problem in England right now, or we would know about it; even the Muggles would notice something of the magnitude that it would have to be at. Now, I suggest that you tell us what is really going on with your job."

**PLOT TWIST! Heh heh, where is this gonna go? Who knows? Stay magical, my friends! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N I'm baaack! I hope you enjoy this latest installment of The Color of Magic!**

"Fine, "Dad sighed. "I didn't want to tell you what was really making us move because I didn't want you to worry. I'm going to the Ministry to be somewhat of a spy for the federal government. There was a wizard who was taking over England a few years ago. His name was Voldemort, but most people refer to him as You-Know-Who. He was close enough to his goal that of domination that there would be nothing in his mind to stop him from moving to the rest of the world, America included. We can't let him get that far again."

This changed everything. However unpleasant, this was a job that had to be done. There was no getting out of this move, but I was no longer so against it. My Dad was being a hero for his country, and I had to let him do it. I nodded solemnly, showing them that I understood. "So you're going to risk detection by the Ministry and your life to do this. I can respect that." I excused myself, heading to my loft, where I went to bed without even picking up 'Hogwarts, A History' again.

_Two weeks later…_

"There, that's the last of it." I packed my final book away and looked around my room for the last time, feeling tears threaten to fall. I had grown up in this room and I knew every inch of it. Over in the corner was the stain on the carpet from when I was only 5 years old; I had stolen Mom's wand and made a fountain of chocolate burst from the tip of it, while I watched in panic because I didn't know how to stop it. There was the window seat I used to sit on so I could wait and watch for Mom and Dad coming home when they did it the Muggle way, by car. And now that I had taken all of my pictures and posters down, I could see the patch of wall that had had to be refurbished from when Lizzie had accidentally flown into it with her toy broomstick and knocked a hole the size of my fist into it. I could also see the various burns from the hair curler my cousin had chased me with, trying to pin me down with one hand and curl with the other; she had heedlessly scraped the hot iron along the walls the whole time. So many memories in this room, and I would be leaving them all behind.

I trudged morosely down the spiral staircase with my box of books, staring around as I tried to memorize all the tiny details of my beloved house that I had always taken for granted. After all, my family had owned this house for 30 years before we even moved in. I had never thought we would have a reason to leave. I took it all in, the now empty niches that used to hold decorative vases and holes in the wall where nails holding pictures had once hung, how the sunlight slanted through the windows in the kitchen, and the breathtaking view you could see through them.

I turned my back on the beauty outside and determinedly marched to the living room, putting on a brave face for my family, who waited next to the fire, already green and blazing. I was the last one to finish packing my things, but we had managed to successfully move all of our belongings to London in the allotted time of two weeks. Since our apartment was full of witches and wizards in disguise they didn't bat an eye when we had appeared in the lobby fire place with some of our things earlier this morning. It was always used for this kind of thing, I guess.

One by one, we all took one final look around the living room, stepped into the flames, shouted "Mayfield Apartments!", and vanished. Mom and Lizzie went first, then me, then Dad. We all walked quietly up the stairs to our room on the 12th floor (no elevator), and sat silently in our new rooms, each privately mourning the loss of our old house, our old lives, and all the people we ever knew. And the fact that our legs felt like they were about to fall off.

After a time, I decided that my boxes weren't going to unpack themselves, so I started ruffling through them, placing items where I figured they could go until I got a good feel of the room and the organization of it. And it's not like we moved into a shack with one room. I had a good chunk of space to call my own that was actually quite classy. This was literally the "penthouse suite" of this building and we had the whole floor to ourselves.

I was able to fit all of my clothes into the closet, my toiletries in the cabinet below the counter, and my shoes on a shelf I found in the back of the closet. I would have to have Dad reapply a Sticking Charm to my posters so they would attach to the wall. My books, however, were a more pressing problem. There were so many boxes filled with books that I was constantly weaving around them when I walked through my room, which was often since I was unpacking. Try as I might, I couldn't seem find a place to put my books. Every time I found a place, something else would need to be put there, or there wasn't enough space for all of them. It was infuriating!

I decided to put the problem off until later; it was getting dark and we should eat dinner together as a family on our first night here. I walked out of my room, not bothering to change out of my sweaty clothes for dinner. Mom glanced up as I approached and smiled at me, say, "Looks like I'm not the only one sensible enough to start unpacking." I smiled weakly, but I didn't really feel ready to smile. She noticed my reluctance and gazed sadly at me. "I know this is hard, sweetie, but we'll make it work. Won't we, honey?" She directed the last bit at Dad, who was absorbed in watching a cricket match on the newly-installed television. He looked over at us, saw us staring at him, and said, "Oh, yeah, whatever your mother said." As he turned back, I mumbled, "Nice save, Dad."

Mom rolled her eyes at him then turned back to me. "Don't worry kiddo. This place will feel just like home sooner than you know." I didn't fully believe her but I nodded and walked into the kitchen to see Mitzi making a New England clam chowder. The irony didn't escape me. She noticed me standing in the doorway, and inquired, "Is there anything you needed, ma'am?"

"Oh, no, I just…wanted to check out the place, is all. I can go if I'll be in the way."

"Oh, dearie, you can't fool me. You want something to do to keep your mind off the move. Why don't you sidle up to the counter and start separating some lettuce for the salad." Trust Mitzi to be a mind-reader. I did as she asked and we worked in silence for an hour, her giving me a new task every time I finished one. It was peaceful, just concentrating on something mundane and ordinary. Eventually, she had nothing for me to do, so she shooed me out of the kitchen. I called the rest of the family over to the dining table. Mitzi came out with the soup and salad not too long afterward. We ate in silence, but it was a companionable silence rather than an awkward silence; one of acceptance rather than unanswered questions. We said goodnight and dispersed to our respective rooms, each of us lying on a mattress on the floor because we hadn't set up the bed frames yet.

I went straight to my bed without bothering to brush my teeth, comb my hair, or change into my pj's. I fell flat on the bed and was asleep within moments.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N School was cancelled today because of the weather! I'm not kidding when I say, "Baby, it's cold outside." "I do want to build a snowman" but there isn't enough "Ice, ice, baby," so I'll just have to "Let it go!" Oh, the puns, they burn! Anyhoo, enjoy!**

_The next morning… _

I woke up, cold and surrounded by darkness, in an unfamiliar room. I panicked for a moment before I remembered where I was. It all came back to me in a rush; the leaving, unpacking, and general feeling of misery. I cast around for something else to focus on before I lost my motivation to do anything ever again. My eyes fell on my book boxes and I groaned. Well, here was something to focus on, alright. It was going to bother me until I found a spot for them, so I got up and started walking around, sure I'd find at least something I could put my books on, but there wasn't anything. Nothing at all!

As I was making my final round of the room, I felt a cold draft. I stared around for a window I might have missed, but it was just a blank stretch of wall and the ceiling above it had no cracks in it where it might have come from. Then, I started eyeing the baseboards, hoping to see a line in the moldings that would allow a breeze in, but it was to no avail. I gave up on it and sadly realized that I really had _no where_ in my room for my books. I picked up the boxes and stacked them in a corner, mostly out of the way, but in a prominent enough spot so I wouldn't forget them. I sighed and turned away to finish unpacking the last of my things from the other boxes, not realizing how late it was getting until Mom's voice came through the door from the living room yelling, "Honey, are you up? It's nearly 10 and we want to go meet some of our neighbors."

Fortunately, I was nearly done, so I broke down one of the last boxes and yelled back that I would be ready in an hour and to stop rushing me. She sighed just loud enough for me to hear through the door. I could tell she wished I would speed up in getting dressed, but didn't want to push me. Dealing with me this early in the morning probably wouldn't be fun, but that didn't mean I was going to go out of my way to make it easier.

I tried to hurry up as I took a shower and got dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with the words "Is it just me, or are circles pointless?" emblazoned on the front. Figured I would let people get to know my type of humor from the outset.

Checking the time (I had made it in under 45 minutes), I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room. There was a big window on the far side that led out to a balcony overlooking a small park. The room was spacious and a light beige color with conservative paintings on the walls of various fruit bowls and people, all very well put-together, but completely unimaginative. Where was the color, the famous London culture, the eye-popping creativity? Maybe I was just viewing it as an American hick, but this city was actually a little underwhelming to me from what I had seen already. Well, don't judge a book by its cover, as I always say.

No one else was in the room yet, so I wandered over to the window, looking at all the tiny people strolling along the sidewalks, doing what they did every day. Mom walking into the room interrupted my musings. She seemed surprised to see me there so early, but she quickly got over it and asked how I was holding up. I just nodded, not speaking.

We stood together by the window, just observing the world. Dad and Lizzie finally entered and we set off for the lobby. Most of the residents of Mayfield Apartments had kids, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, so Lizzie and I were swept up in a group of kids who were being shepherded outside to the park I'd seen earlier from the window. Everyone scattered across the grounds, bringing out balls and toys of all kinds. Lizzie ran over to some girls, who were talking to some boys with broomsticks, and was accepted into the group instantaneously. I stared after her wistfully, wishing I could be that extroverted and just run up to someone I didn't know and make friends.

I unexpectedly felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see a girl my age with shoulder-length brunette hair and bright blue eyes smiling at me. Behind her stood people who I suspected were her friends. There were two teenagers, an extremely tall guy with black hair and his polar opposite, a short, blonde girl with glasses. They all seemed to be nice people by the way they were smiling, but my natural shyness made me nervous to talk to them.

"Hi! You're the new tenant, right?"

"Um…yeah, up on the 12th floor."

The boy in the back spoke up. "Really? That's brilliant! We've wanted to check the place out since the last tenant, Mr. Myles, moved out. He was such an eccentric, we thought he must've had a bunch of secret stuff up there. We've always been locked out of the flat and we couldn't get in no matter how hard we tried! Tell me, have you seen any strange walls or paintings that could be concealing a door?" I didn't really want to answer his question because it might lead to them breaking into my apartment to look for secret rooms that may or may not be there in the first place. The thought of the strange draft from earlier started bugging me when he said that, but I ignored it.

The blonde girl elbowed him then stepped forward, saying, "I'm dreadfully sorry. We've just started forcing ourselves on you and you don't even know our names. I'm Jessica Taylor, this beanpole is Max Hall, and the girl standing next to you is Melanie Sinclair. Now that you know our names, what's yours?"

"I-I'm Alexia Hendrix. It's nice to meet you," I said awkwardly. I smiled to make up for it.

I noticed Melanie staring at my shirt, looking very confused. That was everyone's reaction to my t-shirts. I was about to explain it to her when Max spoke up and explained instead. He must have seen the look on Melanie's face and decided to put her out of her misery.

"Get it, because circles are round and don't have any points?" Finally! Someone understood my shirt! I smiled at him, but he didn't notice. Melanie looked confused for a second more then burst out laughing. No one had ever thought my t-shirt was that funny before! Jessica rolled her eyes at Melanie, exasperated but smiling. She looked back at me and gestured to a big, shady tree in the corner of the park.

"You want to join us? We were just about to head over there."

One side of me perked up instantly, but the other side didn't really feel all that into talking to complete strangers. I ignored that half and walked over to the tree with them. When we got there, the only thing I could think to talk about was, "What was Mr. Myles like?" Max immediately went off on a passionate speech about the bitter former tenant.

"Oh, he was horrible to all the kids! He was always yelling at us from his balcony to keep quiet while we were playing in the park. Can you imagine kids playing quietly in a _park_? Crotchety old git! He worked for the Ministry of Magic, but he was an Unspeakable, you know, the ones who work in the Department of Mysteries (probably why he was so eccentric; working in that department could drive you loopy). So anyway, he probably has loads of secret stuff up there, hidden where nobody can find it. Then he left and we wanted to see if he left anything, but it was already locked up tight the day after he moved out. It's not like anyone was sorry when he left; he'd scowl at anything that moved. I even saw him kick a puppy once, I swear!" Max obviously had a deep-seated grudge against this guy. I couldn't help but wonder why…

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what the Department of Mysteries is, exactly," I said tentatively, interrupting his rant. "Georgie was never the same after-what do you mean?" I felt kind of embarrassed; it was one of my pet peeves, to be looked at like I was stupid, but I just _had_ to know what was behind the mysterious title. "Exactly what I said," I shot back defensively. "I just moved here from America, so I kind of unfamiliar with your system of government. Or your schools…" I pulled a face at that confession, but Jessica piped up. "Well, then, let us remedy your ignorance, fair maiden! We shall set forth on a noble quest to seek the Holy Grail…of knowledge, that is," she proclaimed, suddenly switching into Old English dramatically. I played along with it, feeling amused at this odd group.

"Oh, I thank you, kind lady-knight! We shall have such a quest as has never been undertaken before, one that shall be sung about for years to come!" Hooking arms like the characters in the Wizard of Oz, we set off down the yellow brick road…ah, the park path, back to the apartment building with Max and Melanie walking after us, shaking their heads, but both hiding smiles. Jessica led us to a room on the ground floor just off the lobby. Inside it was shady, but comfortable, with the smell of something baking in the oven. I was wondering why we had just walked into this room, when a tottering old lady came bustling in, saying, "Hello, dearies. Just sit down there and I'll be back with the cookies in two seconds." Either she knew the others or she was just a really accommodating old lady; probably a bit of both. Maybe she was someone's grandmother?

I stared around at the space, so different from my own sitting room. It was darker in here, as was pointed out before, and the view from the windows was defiantly not as lofty. The walls were a vibrant shade of orange, so eye-popping it shocked my eyes every time I looked at it, but it wasn't a bad shock. There were no paintings, but a few drawings done, obviously, by a kid, whoever that was. I liked this woman already!

She came back a few minutes later with a tray of cookies. "You're right on time, as usual. I swear, it's like you can sense them baking! Now, are you here to take advantage of a poor old lady's cookies or is there a special reason for coming?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Just gotta love the cold, right? NOT! This is pretty much a filler chapter, but I'll have something REALLY epic up most likely by tomorrow. Also, shout out at the beginning of the next chapter to 2 beyond-cool people!**

_Previously, _

"You're right on time, as usual. I swear, it's like you can sense them baking! Now, are you here to take advantage of a poor old lady's cookies or is there a special reason for coming?"

_Now, _

"Alexia just moved here from America and she doesn't know much about the Ministry or Hogwarts. We thought you could clear some things up," Jessica explained as we all reached for a cookie from the tray on the coffee table in the center of our circle of chairs.

"Oh, then you've come to the right place! Tell me, how much do you know already? Just so we don't have to repeat anything."

"Well, I know that you have a Prime Minister of Magic, that there are different offices that deal with different things, though what most of them are individually, I don't know, and I know that the workers in the Department of Mysteries are called Unspeakables. That's really all I've picked up," I said hesitantly. Melanie smiled at me encouragingly, silently telling me to go on. "About Hogwarts, I know a bit more. There are four houses, one each for the four founders. Students are sorted by putting on Godric Gryffindor's hat. I don't know how that one works, though-"

"Wait a minute, Felix told me that you had to do an obstacle course to be sorted! What's this about a hat?!" Max interrupted me suddenly. I regarded him coolly. "Then Felix was lying to you. I read about the sorting in a book called Hogwarts, A History. I should think that's a more reliable source than 'Felix'".

Jessica collapsed on the floor, laughing so hard that she wasn't making any sound. All of us stared at her questioningly, Max and I more than the others. The woman even asked, "Are you okay, Jessie?" Eventually, after a few seconds she calmed down enough to see us looking at her and explained breathlessly, "Yes, I'm fine, Mrs. Jones, I just found it funny that you actually believed Felix when he told you that! How many times has Felix ever told you the truth, huh?" Oh, so this was just a friendly neighborhood woman, not her grandmother. Max was looking at the ground, embarrassed, mumbling that Jessica would have believed him if he was _her_ older brother. I didn't like the sound of this Felix person; he was probably a trouble-maker.

"Yes, well, Jessica, what did you expect? Any information, from any source, is considered fact until proven otherwise, you know. But you do have a point in saying that, as sources go, Felix is not a very reliable one," Melanie stated matter-of-factly. I don't know about you, but that surprised me a little. I had gained the impression that she was, shall we say, a tad on the crazy side.

"She's right, Max," I said. "This Felix sounds like a trouble maker. How old is he, anyway?" I asked causally, hoping he was somewhere close to our age. The more people you know, right?

"He's 12, and going to start his second year," Max said, eagerly trying to change the subject. Before I could ask more, however, Mrs. Jones spoke up, saying, "Before we go off on a tangent here, is there anything else you know?"

"No, not really. I don't really want to everything there is to know about the Ministry, but I want to know anything and everything about Hogwarts." I felt I could trust this lady I had just met about 20 minutes ago, so I told her what was really on my mind, my need to know about Hogwarts and be just as up-to-date as the rest. "I grew up thinking I would be going to the Salem Witches' Academy, so I really want to know as much about Hogwarts as the others know." I waited eagerly for her reply.

She thought for a minute before she spoke, "Well, our Minister of Magic at the moment is Cornelius Fudge, not quite the man for the job, in my opinion; way too fond of the comforts of the office, but he's not entirely incompetent. Yes, those who work in the Department of Mysteries are called Unspeakables, because they are never allowed to talk about what they do to anyone, hence the title. The Ministries offices all work together like parts in a Muggle machine to, primarily, keep the Wizarding World a secret, but also for law-enforcement and protection for muggles from the 'bad wizards', if you know what I mean. Basically, what every magical government in the world does.

"But of course, what you want to hear about is Hogwarts. Each house has its own Quidditch team and it is quite the event when there's a game; most of the school will go to it, even the teachers! All of the houses compete in a House Points competition; teachers give and take away points according to your actions, your accomplishments or any rule-breaking and so on. Whoever has the most at the end of the year wins the House Cup. I've heard that Slytherin is on a winning streak." I leaned forward in my chair as she paused, eager to hear more about the school, but Max broke in.

"A bunch of snakes, the lot of them! There wasn't a single witch or wizard that went bad that wasn't in Slytherin! And if you're going to talk about the houses, at least give us a description! Nobody will tell us about them and the students that get into them, probably to prevent bias, but still! They always say 'you'll find out when you go', but now we're about to go and everyone's _still_ not telling us!" I could tell by his tone that he had been holding that in for a bit, but what he said caught me. They had clichés for the students in the houses? Hmm, another interesting layer to this school!

"Well, since you're so insistent, I will tell you," she smiled. "I'll start with my old house, then. The Ravenclaw house is for those who value knowledge and wit, but most Ravenclaws are rather eccentric. Although, if you're in Ravenclaw, you tend to understand the way their mind works. As Rowena Ravenclaw used to say, "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." Indeed, most Ravenclaws heartily agree with her. The Head of House nowadays is one Professor Flitwick, if my sources are correct. Now, the others I'm not as familiar with, mind you, so give me a break here.

Let's see, Gryffindor is the house of those with a good amount of bravery and daring. I think that most of them are just show-offs, really. However, every now and then, one will come along that is brave and daring for the right reasons; they're not all bad. The Head of House is Professor McGonagall now. I knew her from school; she was one of the good ones.

Hufflepuff is the house for people who are hard-working, loyal, and brave in their own rights. The Hufflepuffs always make the best friends; they're a loyal and trustworthy lot, through and through. They're a mix of everything; smart, daring without being too showy, and quite ready to defend their friends. Their Head of House is Professor Sprout, a very nice woman, indeed.

However, I must say that the last house, Slytherin, is my least favorite. Now I don't want you to go to Hogwarts already planning to shun any Slytherin you meet, so I will put this in a positive light as best I can. The Slytherins are a very cunning group, indeed, and what you said earlier, Max, is true. Slytherin has been the house of almost all dark witches and wizards to go through Hogwarts, but it has also been the house of outstanding people who went on to do great good in the world, believe you me." She looks at each of us hard in the eyes. "Slytherin may or may not be the house you end up in, but you better make sure you don't go bad-mouthing any house that isn't your own." She was uncharacteristically serious when she said this.

A large grandfather clock behind me that I hadn't noticed before started chiming. It was twelve o'clock already. The time had just flown by, and I had so much to think about, so I decided that it was time to leave for lunch. Before I left, I had to ask one more question, though.

"So if the houses are sorted by personality, then when you put on the hat, it sort of reads your mind, right?" I asked tentatively. She nodded, looking impressed. "Not many youngsters pick that up until they have been sorted, but, of course, most youngsters aren't Alexia Hendrix," she answered sagely.

I decided to take that as a complement, and excused myself after grabbing another cookie for Lizzie, leaving the Max, Jessica, and Melanie with her. As I trudged up the stairs, I thought and thought about this new school. I felt…excited, to say the least. It was the beginning of August. I would have to wait until the end of this month to go, but it was so close I could almost taste it! Imagine all the things I would learn at school, all the hidden secrets I was so close to uncovering! A whole world of magic, literally, about to open up to me in a few short weeks! I just hoped I could make it without exploding from sheer anticipation!

I finally reached our flat and could hear voices coming from inside, but they were raised angrily and unfamiliar to me. Instantly, I was on alert. But what could I do? I didn't know any magic, and I didn't want to go and get someone for no good reason. _No, maybe I should go and get someone anyway_. _But who would I talk to? Mrs. Jones? No, I was probably just being silly._ I argued with myself like that for a full minute. There was nothing for it; I had to go in. I screwed up my courage, and opened the door.

**A/N CLIFF HANGER! *evil laugh* You all probably hate me right now! Don't worry, I'll be uploading the next chapter soon! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Shout out to IAmAFantasyFan and PixieLouLou, my first follower and my first reviewer. I wanted to wait for a special chapter to say this. I LOVE YOU TWO! Here's a nice long chapter specially for you!**

Only when I had taken a few steps in did I realize this was actually a very stupid plan and that I should run screaming _right now_, but it was too late by then. The first thing I saw when I opened the door was my parents sitting in the living room on the couches, but they were awkwardly bound together with two hulking men in silver masks holding them at wandpoint. Shock stopped me in my tracks, and that was my mistake; if I had run right out, or better yet, not even entered in the first place, what happened next wouldn't have happened and I wouldn't be the freak I am now. But, if it didn't happen, I also wouldn't be the person I am today.

Here's what happened: I walked in and everyone turned to look at me. Mom and Dad were tied together on the couch (as I told you before), and Mitzi and Lizzie were, thankfully, nowhere to be seen. The strangers pointed their wands at me. Regrettably, my surprise entrance caused them both to shoot spells at me, green and blue, which collided in mid-air and hit me at the same time. I was blasted backwards through the open door and hit the wall outside. That is all I can remember before blacking-out, but later I was told that they lost their nerve and fled out of the window to the balcony, Disapperating to who-knows-where. Mom and Dad managed to get free a few minutes later, rushing to my side. They couldn't tell what was wrong with me; I had no sign of a curse on me, but I wouldn't move or wake up. Plus there was the added creepy factor that my eyes were wide open the _entire_ time, never blinking. They rushed me to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, where I stayed in a coma-like state for nearly 3 days! They told me that they had never been so worried in their lives, which was all the more uncomfortable to hear when I finally did wake up.

The only thing I can remember is the faint feeling of shifting; not like I was moving, but like my atoms were changing, almost. One moment I was almost completely oblivious to my surroundings, and suddenly, I was aware again. I was most especially aware of my aching eyes, but that was to be expected. I pushed myself up in bed squinting around at the hospital room. It was nice enough, I guess, but definitely a hospital room; there was absolutely nothing interesting about it.

I didn't get to look for long, though, because seconds later, a nurse came in, saw me awake and sitting up, and rushed over to me, asking frantic questions, like, "How long have you been up? How do you feel? Is there anything you need?" I answered back vaguely, mostly because I had just woken up from what you could possibly call a coma. It tends to make you a bit slow, just in case you didn't know. When I tried to get up, she gently push me back down, telling me to just relax while she went to get the Healer and my family.

Leaning back onto the pillows, I close my eyes and try to remember what happened, but all I can come up with is being hit with the spells and crashing against the wall; not that happy of a memory, if you ask me. After hitting the wall, there was nothing except that feeling of shifting, which had gotten, if anything, stronger. Focusing on it, I attempted to find out just where it was coming from on my body, but I quickly realized that I felt it everywhere. I felt up and down my arms, face, legs, trying to find out what was causing it, but it seemed to be something on the inside of me. Close to freaking out, I jumped up and walked across the room to where a mirror was hanging on the wall.

I will fully admit that what I saw made me scream bloody murder. My hair was _green, _for crying out loud, but that wasn't what really made my scream. As soon as I saw my hair, which was the same color as the grass in the park, it rapidly changed to a shocked yellow! But it didn't stop there; soon it was orange, too! My hair was changing color as fast as my mood shifted-wait, my moods? Was I controlling it with emotion?

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, thought calming thoughts (as well as I could), and then opened my eyes. Poof, my hair was back to its normal reddish color, about which I was greatly relieved. But how had I done that? Without closing my eyes, I thought about Hogwarts, about how I would be going there in a few weeks time, if I hadn't been out for too long. The idea gave me a burst of excitement, and snap! Just like that, my hair went a bright blue, the same color as the sky outside the window. It went from one color to another almost instantaneously, just a quick shift.

Before I could do any more experimenting, the Healer, Mom, Dad, and Lizzie bust through the door. My family took one look at me, then rushed at me, burying in hugs, saying things like, "Oh, we thought you might never wake up!" or "We were so worried about you!" or, in Lizzie's case, "You were out for three days! What gives?!" Mom and Dad didn't take too kindly to that, but I ignored the words and hugged her because this was just her way of trying to cover up the fact that she had been worried. After they pulled away, they all stared at me like I was going to explode if they took their eyes off me.

"What are you staring at? Is it the hair?" I asked nervously, my hair going purple with embarrassment. They all jumped as my hair shifted colors, which was understandable. I felt like a freak, to say the least. The Healer was looking at me with interest, but more like I was a specimen than a person. My parents seemed almost afraid of me, but at least Lizzie seemed to like the way my hair changed; she was gawking at it in wonder. The Healer finally spoke up.

"I have one question to ask of you, Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix. Was there a Metamorphmagus in either of your genealogies?" He stepped forward with his fingertips touching, looking thoughtfully at me. Mom glanced at him oddly, saying, "Why, yes, my grandmother was one." He smiled delightedly at her, but it wasn't returned. "What does it matter?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" he said incredulously. "She inherited the genes for it through your blood, but it was what the Muggles call 'recessive'. It didn't show up. My colleagues and I have discovered what the two spells that hit your daughter were. You say they were green and blue, yes? Well, one was, unfortunately, the Killing Curse." Mom and Dad gasped at this revelation, but the Healer carried on like nothing had happened. "The other was a Mutation jinx designed to incapacitate the victim by any means possible. Most people lose their legs or arms, but the reaction to the jinx is unique for every person. In her case, it combined with the Killing Curse to kill off any and all magic in her, since she couldn't have done anything against them physically."

Hearing this was even worse than hearing that we were moving to England! I was powerless, a Squib? No, this was worse than being a Squib; I'd had a taste of magic and now I would never achieve my full potential in becoming a witch. I could never go to Hogwarts or be in any wizarding school of any sort at all! My hair went black as night, making my emotions easy to read.

"Now, now, don't fret just yet. You see, somehow, that gene for being a Metamorphmagus kicked in at just the right time! It fought off the curses, so you still have magic, and probably a bit more than before, too. But since the power was used, it is now evident on the outside, like a never –used muscle that you can now control." They all smiled, like this was good, like this should make me happy or something. I mean, sure, it was great that I wasn't dead or a Squib (or both, for that matter), but I was still a freak! I couldn't go to Hogwarts like this! There was no way that I was going to live the rest of my life with my emotions displayed on my hair for the world to see. No way, Jose!

"Change me back, please." The Healer stopped smiling. Instead he frown like he was confused. "Why? Don't you like this power?" Geez, could he be any thicker? Why on earth would I want or like this power? My thoughts must have shown on my face because he continued, saying, "I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can do about it. It was always in you to be able to become this, it just didn't show. But I don't see why that should be a problem. There's no one in the world who can say they _became_ a Metamorphmagus instead of being born one. Only you can do that, Alexia." Mom and Dad were still smiling. I couldn't believe this! How could it be a good thing to single someone out like this?

My hair turned a vibrant red. "How can that be a good thing, singling someone out like that?! Do you think that I actually _want_ to go to Hogwarts as a freak? I'll never be able to fit in with anyone ever again unless I can learn to control this, which will be near impossible because it changes with my emotions. I'll either be an emotionless zombie with regular hair or I'll be an outcast with no friends because everyone will be afraid of the weird girl whose hair changes color! I never asked for any of this to happen to me and I don't want _you_ laughing it off when you don't even know what it feels like!" I vented my frustration for a good few minutes; everyone's smiles had dripped clean off their faces by the time I was done and I had a major headache that was pulsing behind my eyes. I told myself I just needed some time alone to rest and think.

"Can't I just go home?" I asked when I had finally calmed down enough. The Healer nodded slightly, so we walked down to the first floor, out of the old department store front, and then took a cab back to Mayfield Apartments. It was deathly quiet all the way home, but I wasn't going to break the silence. It was all Dad's fault anyway. He was the one who took this stupid job that moved us here and it was probably because of Dad's secret mission that those guys in masks showed up in the first place. This realization only made me angrier and angrier, and I didn't try to stop myself, completely forgetting that my hair was slowly moving from maroon to black with each passing minute I spent stewing about this whole situation.

We finally got home, trudged up the steps, and entered our apartment with me in the lead. Instantly, I turned around and said shortly, "Family meeting. Living room. _Now_." They all sat on various pieces of furniture in the room, but I stood up, facing them and standing rigidly. First, I turned to Dad. "Now, what makes you qualified for your undercover job her in London? You had _better_ have an answer other than 'I volunteered'."

He frowned at me, clearly unhappy with my tone, but answered, "My office was the mostly likely to be inconspicuous if I suddenly switched and, yes, I did volunteer for the job." That wasn't good enough. "Were there no other volunteers who could have done it? Your life is obviously on the line because of this mission; those two men came because they knew about it. Who in the Ministry knew about your mission? No one from America would try to kill you, or whatever those two goons were planning to do, so they had to be English."

It was all he could do to say, "No, there were no other volunteers. And we only have one contact in the Ministry, Mr. Lucius Malfoy. He doesn't actually work for the Ministry, but he has many connections."

"Because of your mission, I am a mutant, an oddity, a freak of nature to be gawked at in a zoo. I really hope America feels safe. Oh, and don't you think it might be a _tad_ suspicious that your only contact doesn't actually _work_ in the Ministry?" I spat viciously. I stormed off to my bedroom, leaving my family speechless in the living room. Locking the door behind me, I collapsed in my bed and cried; I just let it all go, the move, the accident, the worry I felt for what my Dad might have to face, and what my life would have to be like now. I cried until I was so out of tears, I thought I might never cry again. Ignoring my family trying to talk to me through the door, I just laid on my bed until sleep overtook me.

**A/N Sorry, this is kind of a sad chapter, but I needed a negative light on the situation. I don't know about you, but I love to be a Metamorphmagus if I got the chance!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N Just an obvious disclaimer, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters from the books (which were so much better than the movies, by the way). I also don't own some parts of the plot line, as much as I wish I could say that I did. I only own my OC's and the other little bits of plot line. I just thought I should say that at least once.**

_The next morning…_

When I woke up, I felt… better. Well, not that great, but like I could probably face the world today, at least. However, the world was going to have to wait. I had read about Metamorphmagi in passing at some point. As far as I knew, Metamorphmagi could change more than their hair color; they were in control of their whole appearance, from skin color to figure to height. There was no way I wasn't going to test that ability, as uncomfortable with the idea as I was. I ran into my bathroom and stared into the mirror.

After deliberating for a minute, I decided to do a person I knew down to every last freckle and laugh line, my Mom. Concentrating on that shifting feeling, I got to work. First up, the brown eyes. Instantly, my stormy grey orbs were replaced with warm, chestnut brown ones. Then, the red hair I'd inherited. I almost didn't even have to think anymore to change; my hair immediately elongated and became fiery with little effort. A touch of tan on the face and arms, freckles on every piece of available skin, and, as an added bit of flair, a few more inches in height. Unmistakably, my Mom stared back at me in the mirror.

_Imagine what you could do with a power like this_, I thought as I admired my handy work. _I look just like Mom! I could probably do anyone, really._ Then I stopped, realizing what I had just thought. I could be someone else, and a _very_ convincing copy, too. That wasn't natural! You could screw up someone's life like that! This power was dangerous in the wrong hands, like any power, and I sure wasn't the right hands, if not the wrong ones. I suddenly cut off the illusion, my Mom's face melting into my own. There was nothing I could do about this power, I'd have to live with it, but that didn't mean I had to use it!

Turning away from the mirror, pushing it to the back of my mind, I walked out of my room, ready to take on the day and my new task of control. No one was up yet; they were probably getting a good night's sleep for the first time in three days, if they had been as worried as they'd said. Mitzi was up, however, and she made me my favorite breakfast, toast with butter on both sides and an over-easy egg to go with it. Lizzie came in first, saw me at the table, and then smiled cheerily. It's nice to know something's never change. At least she wasn't avoiding my eyes like our parents were sure to do. I wanted to escape that, if it was at all possible.

"Hey, Lizzie, you want to go to the park today, just the two of us?" I was hoping she'd say yes so I could have an excuse to be out of the house. She looked unsure, but I got the feeling that she knew I was trying to get out of the apartment before our parents got up. "We can ride our broom sticks," I said persuasively. That did it. She nodded, and then we both ran to get our things after agreeing to meet in the living room in ten minutes. We tried to do it quietly, as too not wake up Mom and Dad, but our efforts were almost wasted. After scribbling a note, telling them where we had gone, we left for the park. I had barely closed the door when I heard Mom and Dad's bedroom door creak open, but we had still made it. Yes!

We headed out to the park; it was a grey day, but so was every other day here. It made me miss our old town, where it was sunny whether you wanted it to be or not; with all the sun, most of the time you _didn't_ want it. We both had our Cleansweep Sixes in our hands, though mine had a fine coating of dust on the handle because I never used it anymore. Since Mayfield Apartments was on the outskirts of London, we could fly around without attracting too much unwanted attention from the Muggles. The park was just wide enough to fly around in, so without hesitation, Lizzie and I sprung into the air. I realized later that pulling this sort of thing right after I got out of a 'coma' probably wasn't the best idea, but I was having too much fun at the time to care.

Lizzie raced me around the park, lapping me with ease. She really was quite good at flying, and I had no doubt she would make the house team when that time came. For now, she would just have to be content with beating the tar out of me at Quidditch (I'm not kidding, she was like a human Bludger).

It wasn't too long before I realized that my hair was a brilliant shade of green, though, reminding me that I was still a freak to the rest of the world. And to myself for that matter. I could see Lizzie staring at my hair, too. I was suddenly tired of flying, so I dived toward the ground and came to rest somewhere in the middle of the field. She joined me a moment later; we both sat in silence, me staring at the ground so I couldn't see her.

"You're not a freak, you know," she said suddenly. I looked up at her in surprise. Were my thoughts really that evident? She gazed steadily back at me, not looking like she saw anything but her sister. But she was just a 10 year old kid. Maybe _she_ thought I wasn't some weirdo, but what about everyone else?

"How do you know? I've barely even heard of Metamorphmagi and now I _am_ one. Do you know what it's like to have everything you've ever know ripped away from you in an instant?" I asked urgently, trying to get my feelings across to her, but also wanting to know what she would say.

"Not as much as you do, but this move has given me enough experience with that feeling to see where you're coming from," she said pointedly. It was hard to imagine that happy-go-lucky Lizzie could feel anything like this, but I realized that she wasn't a kid anymore. She was almost my age and she could feel things on a deep level, too. She could kind of understand me, and that gave me hope. _That doesn't change the fact that I'm still singled out, still alone, still an abnormality_, I thought morosely.

I could feel the tears starting to threaten to fall, but I wouldn't let them. There was only one way I could show Lizzie how bad this power could be, what the consequences could be. I focused on her face, molding my own to look like hers. Dad's grey eyes and brunette hair, Mom's nose and strong jaw. I watched her face for her reaction, ready for her to freak out, but all I saw on her face was awe.

"Whoa! You look just like me! How did you _do_ that?! It's so cool!" This caught me completely off-guard, to say the least. Cool? How was this cool? Not that I objected that she wasn't screaming and running away, but this was definitely not what I expected. She surprised me so much I fazed back to myself without noticing.

"C-cool? But don't you see? I can look exactly like someone else! What if I do something while I look like them? I could potentially screw up their life, but I couldn't tell them it was me! This isn't natural, being able to _be_ someone else! There are so many not-cool things about this!" I was desperate for someone to understand how dangerous and wrong this was, that I needed to be in a straight jacket or something! But Lizzie just looks me straight in the eyes and says something I should have realized before, and I could've kicked myself for not:

"Why on earth would you pretend to be someone else? And of course it's natural if what the Healer said is right. It was in you from the moment you were born, and without it, you would be a Squib and most likely dead, too." She said it so frankly, like it was ridiculously obvious. Which, of course, it was. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest, but I couldn't help think that I must be really subconsciously melodramatic if I didn't think of that. Why had I been so set on being a freak?

**A/N That's just one of the mysteries of life isn't it, Alexia? **"No, I'd actually like to know the answer to that question." **Looks like you'll just have to wait and see, then! ***death stare*


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N Just an update on the progress of the story, real quick. I can't believe it, but so far, there have been 3 reviews, 3 followers, and (ermahgerd, guys) 280 views! Shout out to Layla James and Amis55 for following! XD!**

That was something to puzzle on, but not now; a few boys with broom sticks were heading toward us. I looked over at Lizzie and waggled my eyebrows playfully because they were the same boys she had talked to yesterday. She looked really confused until she noticed the boys, and then she shoved me with a mock glare. We sat there and watched as the boys came closer until they were a few feet away.

"Is there something we can help you with?" I asked innocently, hoping to eventually find an opening to tease Lizzie again in the ensuing conversation. One of the boys stepped forward, a tall black-haired boy a little older than me, and said, rudely, "Yeah, you can get off the field so we can play."

Well, now. This boy was just asking for a beating, but I'd probably get arrested for assault or something. I simply raised an eyebrow at him, my hair going a dark blue, and shot back, "We were here first. And _yes_, my hair changes color, you can stop staring now." But they wouldn't stop staring; I'd kind of forgotten how shocking it is to see someone's hair change color instantaneously. They jumped when my hair started moving towards purple. Lizzie recognized the signs and said matter-of-factly, "This is my sister, Alexia. She's a Metamorphmagus." Far from helping, this just made them stare at me like a zoo animal, instead.

Pulling myself together, I explained, "Metamorphmagi can change their appearance. It's not a disease; it's something you're born with. And can't you just play on that half of the field?" They cut down on the staring a bit, but that boy, that irritating boy, said, "No, we can't, it's not big enough. If I don't practice, I won't make it on my house team."

"Oh, you already know you'll get on the team, Felix. There's no need to go pushing us around when you don't even have a good excuse," Lizzie glared pointedly at him. So this was Max's trouble-maker brother, eh? I could see the resemblance. They had the same dark hair, height, and air of I-know-more-than-you, but at least on Max it wasn't annoying; he just seemed smart. I could see why Max had believed Felix when he said you were sorted by an obstacle course, though. Something about him made you want to believe what he said, which made me instantly wary of him.

"So, you're Max's brother. I can see the resemblance," I said as I looked him up and down. He looked at me with interest now, and something else, but I couldn't quite tell what; I just knew I didn't like it.

"Ah, so you've met Maxie-boy, I take it? What did he say about me, exactly?" He was trying hard to sound casual but I could see right through him. "Only that you're a second year and you got him to believe that students were sorted by doing an obstacle course. Jessica laughed at him for it." Max really hadn't told me that much about Felix.

He laughed and all his buddies joined in. "I remember that! He was sooo eager to learn about Hogwarts that I decided I would tell him all about how brave and daring I was during my sorting, the likes which has never been seen before!" I couldn't figure out what was so funny about that as to make he and his cronies laugh so hard, but laugh they did. One was even rolling on the ground!

"Oh, yes, really witty; lying to your brother to 'improve' your reputation." That sobered them up quick; Felix obviously didn't take too kindly to being insulted in front of his friends.

"Come on, Alexia," Lizzie said haughtily. "There's no reason we should obstruct the field any longer from these noble and clever athletes who _obviously _need the practice." We jumped on our brooms and flew off towards the building, reaching it in a matter of minutes. Laughing at the memory of their stunned faces as we climbed the stairs with our brooms in tow, I felt like I could take on the world.

Mom and Dad were in the living room, playing a game of Texas Hold 'Em, chips and all, on the coffee table. They seemed so at ease with each other, just relaxing and playing together, but as soon as we entered, there was tension. You could have cut it with a _knife_, it was so thick. It was my fault, so I stepped forward with a sheepish expression, all former confidence gone. "I said some, uh, not very nice things yesterday, and I want to make it up you. I'm really sorry about what I said about Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure he's a very nice man and if he's helping you, then I can respect that. Will you forgive me?"

They glanced at each other with secret smiles they thought I couldn't see. Mom turned back to me, trying to keep her face neutral, and answered, "Yes, in time, I believe we could find it in our hearts to forgive you for your hurtful words, but in the meantime, you'll just have to do all of Mitzi's chores." Her and Dad's faces broke into identical grins, and so did mine. So, with that, Lizzie and I sat down on pillows placed on the ground. Our whole family played for hours on end, laughing and joking, winning and losing, but still having a great time.

We finally stopped for lunch at two, which Mitzi had to force us to do because the food she had made was getting cold. While we were eating, Dad suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, yes, I forgot! I told my coworker, Arthur Weasley, that our families would get together for an afternoon. We settled on next Saturday; is that okay with all of you?" I was instantly wary, but I agreed to go, if a bit less enthusiastically than Mom and Lizzie.

"He has a big family, though. They have seven kids, six boys and one girl, but the oldest two boys have moved out. Let's see, I believe Ginny, the youngest, is Lizzie's age and Ron, the youngest boy, is Alexia's age. They have a pair of twins, Fred and George, who are in their third year, and Percy, who is in his fifth year and is a prefect. Arthur was about to burst from pride when he said that, so I'm thinking it's an honor to be one at Hogwarts." They sounded like a fun bunch of people, even from what little I knew about them. I was especially interested in the one my age, what was his name again? Oh, right, Ron. At least I would know someone at Hogwarts other than Jessica, Max, and Melanie. Speaking of which…

"Hey, I've just remembered. I have something I need to do, some people I need to talk to, but I'll come and play more poker when I'm done." I needed to tell them about being a Metamorphmagus; maybe one of them knew something more about them. Plus, they were probably worried sick; apparently, the story of my going to St. Mungo's had been told to almost everybody.

**A/N Okay, we're getting closer to meeting the dashing ginger from the summary! PixieLouLou: Oh, yes, you'll be the first to know if I turn into J.K. Rowling! Lol, it would be awesome, though...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Okay, so I've uploaded all of my previously written stuff, so now I'm writing as I go and the uploads will be slowing down a bit, but, I hope, not by too much! i hope you guys don't hate me for the end of this chapter!**

But I didn't know where to find any of them! _Maybe I should try Mrs. Jones' room first_, I thought to myself. That was really the only room I could associate with them, considering they hadn't given out their addresses like I had. So I walked down to the lobby, for the first time without my legs feeling like jelly by the time I reached it, and went quickly to her door. I could hear voices coming from inside, and was struck by a horrible sense of déjà vu, but I recognized the voices this time. Thankfully, I could pick out Mrs. Jones, Max (the loudest), Jessica, and Melanie all trying to talk over one another, but I couldn't tell what they were saying until I was just outside the door. I caught the tail end of Melanie's sentence: "-hope she's okay! It's been three days already." Jessica answered back, "I heard they brought her back last night, around 6." Aw, she'd asked after me! That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Max spoke up next, "If she's back, why hasn't she come to find us yet?" Truthfully, it was because I forgot, but what Mrs. Jones said next was a good point, too, "Well, dear, she's only just met you three, after all." That may be so, but they were my only friends, and as sad as that may sound, I was perfectly happy with them. Deciding to end the conversation there, I knocked three times on the door, and then ducked into a nearby alcove.

"I wonder who it could be. You all asked your parents to be here, correct?" Without my noticing, my hair turned a mischievous indigo. I heard a chorus of agreement from the three kids before Mrs. Jones opened the door. Of course, she saw nobody in the hallway, and as she turned with a disgruntled expression to close the door, I jumped out into the doorway, yelling, "BOO!" They all jumped; Melanie jumped so hard that she slipped out of her chair! Then, we all collapsed in laughter as I walked in to join them in the living room. Unsurprisingly, there were many curious glances at my newly bluish-purplish hair that I myself had just noticed. It didn't take long for Max to ask, "So why's your hair blue, exactly?" Well, at least I didn't have to bring it up myself; this was as good a start as any to tell them.

"Well, you see…" I started, but trailed off; this was going to be harder than I thought. I took a deep breath and then tried again. "When I left for lunch, I went to my flat," I continued. This was the tricky part, because I couldn't tell them about Dad's mission, but if I didn't, I couldn't explain why there were two strangers in my apartment. I settled on telling them that it was 'an accident', as unconvincing as that was. "I can't tell you the details because I don't remember it all that clearly, but something happened, an accident, if you will. Three days later, I wake up from a coma with green hair and a Healer telling me I'm suddenly a Metamorphmagus, whatever that is. Do any of you know what a Metamorphmagus is?" As I was spinning this lie, I was hoping against hope that they would buy it. They seemed satisfied, but I got the feeling that Mrs. Jones and Melanie weren't completely sure of it. Jessica's mouth, however, had dropped open in surprise. "There's no way you're a Metamorphmagus! You can only be born one!" This was a perfect opportunity to show them what I could do, even if I had some misgivings. How were they going to react to this?

Doing the same thing I did to Lizzie, I concentrated on Jessica's face, forcing my own into a copy of hers. This seemed to prove real quick that I was what I said I was. I adjusted my vocal chords to a approximation of hers and said, "You were saying?" They all gaped at me, making me uncomfortable again, but determined not to let my hair show it. Thankfully, I seemed to be gaining more control of it.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then Max, Jessica, and Melanie all started talking at once. They were so garbled that I couldn't have told you what they said to save my life, but eventually Max's voice transcended the others, shouting, "What do you want to know about Metamorphmagi?" Everyone fell silent after that to hear my answer.

"Anything. I don't care what, but tell me everything you know." Like he needed to ask! He looked thoughtful, as did the others, for a few moments as they tried to remember what they all knew about Metamorphmagi. Melanie was the first to answer, "Well, they can control almost all aspects of their appearances, they are born with the power, so I really don't know how you came across it, and their appearance has been known to change because of a powerful emotional reaction. Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know much more." They all nodded; it seemed like this was the extent of their knowledge, too.

However, Mrs. Jones also added, "I do know of one natural-born Metamorphmagus; goes by the name of Tonks. I believe that's her last name." I wasn't alone! I couldn't stop the relieved smile from spreading across my face at that. I felt so accepted by this group; it was a weight off my shoulders feeling to be able to trust them with this secret, even if I couldn't tell them why I had it in the first place. But that was the thing; this was a _secret_. I wasn't going to let just anybody know about being a Metamorphmagus because I wouldn't know how they'd take it. I had to really learn to control it, to use _it_ instead of _it_ using _me_, if you will. I explained this to them, and they seemed to understand, but we all agreed this was something I would have to do by myself; there was really nothing for them to do except be moral support, but that was enough for me.

"My Dad has organized at get-together with us and one of his coworker's family, the Weasleys. It's on Saturday, so we have about a week to get as far as we can with this. It'll be the first test. After that will be Diagon Alley, and then…Hogwarts." The task stretching before us was intimidating and we all knew it, but Melanie, ever the optimist, boldly declared, "Oh, there's nothing to worry about! We'll have you in control and on a roll in no time!" Needless to say, Max, Jessica, and I all busted out laughing at this statement, but took it to heart. Little did we know that it would become our personal mottos and somewhat of an inside joke.

Over the course of the next week, which flew by like the new Nimbus 2000, the four of us, and then Lizzie after a while, concentrated solely on the task at hand. Not to say that it wasn't fun along the way, but we were cooped up in Mrs. Jones' apartment for nearly 12 hours a day. I was almost glad for it to be over!

All of Monday, we tried to find my limits. As it turns out, I could only grow to be 6'10" tall or shrink to be 3'2" tall. My hair could be multiple colors at the same time, but only ever up to ten colors, after which point my hair gave up and went back to its natural red for 5 minutes from fatigue. I could only use the amount of mass I already had, so if I grew, I became thinner and if I shrank, I became chubbier. My features couldn't become overly animalistic or furry, but I did morph my nose and mouth into a beak once, which amused the others greatly, but was actually very odd to experience. Everything had to be in proportion, so no abnormally large feet and no ridiculously small head. By the end of Monday, I was dead on my feet from the effort of having to change so many times over the course of the day.

Tuesday and Wednesday were days where we tested me with emotional stress. They actually had Felix come as a surprise test to see if I could control my hair! I failed miserably…however, when they tried to do it again, I was better at it. Of course, Felix was very confused about why he was _here,_ of all places, when he could be practicing. This dude even managed to make being confused annoying! The whole building seemed to be in on the training, too, because everyone was materializing around me, trying to surprise me!

Thursday and Friday, my last days, were a frenzied rush of people trying to surprise me into changing my hair, me attempting to get some peace (which didn't work half as well as I wanted it to), and everyone generally prepping me for meeting the Weasleys. How we managed to get as far as we did in a week is something I will never know the answer to, but get there we did. I was ready to meet this family tomorrow, whatever the outcome!

**A/N Sorry, folks, you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to meet the Weasleys! Don't worry, though, I plan to have it up tomorrow! IAmAFantasyFan: That really means a lot to me, especially because I didn't know what kind of response this would get when I first uploaded. The next chapter is specially for you! Stay magical, my friends!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N OMGOMGOMGOMG! Shout out to Sock-O-Holic and Amethyst980 for following and favoriting! To all of my regulars, I really thank you, it means a lot! Okay, I'm gonna tone it down a bit as to not freak you guys out. Here's the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. Enjoy! **

_The next day..._

Early the morning, I bolted upright. This was the day! I was going to put my control to the test and possibly make some new friends! _Wow, don't you sound perky_, I thought to myself. But why not? Today was a beautiful day, with the sun actually out from behind the clouds, and the sight of it made me eager to face the challenges of the day.

Quickly getting ready, I changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and another one of my 'famous' t-shirts; this one was bright green, and it said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…and spiders." I don't know why I chose this one, but it just felt right; maybe it was the 'not being afraid' thing I was trying to do by going on this outing.

I was ready to go before anyone else, so I went back inside my room. I had heard of a strange thing some Muggles did called meditation that I figured might be worth a try. Sitting on my bed with my legs crossed uncomfortably, I closed my eyes and just let my thoughts drift because I wasn't really sure what all you were supposed to do while you were meditating. My thoughts kept drifting towards Mr. Myles for some reason. Maybe it was because this used to be his apartment. What did he do up here in his free time? There was no where to put anything, really, besides a television in the living room. All the other rooms were too oddly shaped to have been anything than what they were now except for this one.

What Max had said when I first met him came back to me. He had asked about a secret door, or, at least, if I had noticed anything that might be concealing a secret door. Opening my eyes, I stared at the wall over where I had felt the draft. I hadn't noticed it before, but there really wasn't anything near that spot; the area was completely clear of any permanent fixtures like wall sconces, windows, or shelves. There was something suspicious about that wall, but at that moment, I heard Mom calling for me. Since we were spending the whole day with the Weasleys, we were going to eat a big breakfast here and an early dinner with them later in the day.

About ready to burst from excitement, I hopped off of my bed and bounded into the kitchen, surprising everyone with my sudden entrance. I tried to eat as fast as I possibly could so we could go sooner, but all that ended up happening was more time for me to spend waiting while my family finished. _Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up_, I urged them silently.

Mom noticed my impatient attitude with amusement and calmly asked, "Why are you so wound up? We're only meeting the family of your Dad's coworker. They aren't the Presi-Prime Minister." That didn't have any effect; she didn't know how important of a day this was to me. If I hadn't schooled myself in maintaining control over my hair, it would have changed from its styled lime green with a black streak to a brilliant sky blue, which wouldn't have gone with my outfit _at all_…not that I cared, or anything. I still continued to bounce around, urging them endlessly on until, finally, we were all set to go. But…where were we going exactly? Mom didn't have her day trip purse (it's so big, you _know_ when it's not there) and Dad had announced that we were going to go to the lobby. Not that we were taking a taxi somewhere, just that we were going to the lobby. Hmmm…

As it turns out, we were going to the Burrow, the Weasleys' house. One by one, we each through a pinch of Floo power into the fire and shouted, "The Burrow!" We reappeared in a kitchen filled with people, which only added to the crowdedness of it all. All of the others moved to make room for us, and when all of us were present, the introductions started. First, a slightly balding, portly man with ginger hair (I noticed that all of them were gingers, now that I'd looked around) stepped forward and shook hands with Dad, saying, "Glad you could make it, Dan!" This must be Arthur Weasley, or Mr. Weasley, as he would probably prefer to be called. He was a kindly looking man, and I got the feeling that he was genuinely happy that we had come to his house for the day.

He turned to the rest of his family and introduced them as well. "This is my wife, Molly. Next to the door is Percy, the oldest one in the house. Let's see, Fred and George are…oh, yes, right over there. Ron is the one sitting at the table and, next to me, is Ginny." Mrs. Weasley was rather portly, too, but in a homey way, almost comforting, if that makes any sense. Percy had rather pointed features and horn-rim glasses, and he seemed snobbish with his air of I'm-better-than-you. Ron, the one that was my age, was tall and thin with freckles all over his face and he seemed like an interesting person. Ginny was very small, with the characteristic ginger hair and freckles, but she looked like she could either be bold or shy, depending on the circumstance. She was openly gazing at my hair with interest, which was to be expected.

But Fred and George were, above all, the most interesting people in the room. I could just tell by the way their eyes were slanted downwards like they were trying not to appear guilty. The mischievous half-smiles when they thought no one was looking were a dead give-away, too. They had done something, probably set up some kind of prank. Usually, I didn't truck with trouble-makers (exhibit A: Felix!), but these two had some sort of, I don't know, playfulness that made it okay, somehow. I tore my attention away from them in time to hear my Dad say, "This is my wife, Elise, and these are my two girls." Lizzie broke in to introduce herself and I soon followed suit. "Hi, I'm Lizzie!" She was so perky when she said that, I wasn't surprised that they all smiled at her. _Everyone loves a_ _happy person_, I thought. I stepped forward a bit farther into the light and caught everyone's attention immediately, which wasn't that hard at all because my hair was such a bright color, it was almost luminescent. "And I'm Alexia," I added awkwardly, not nearly as lively as Lizzie, but everyone smiled at me anyway.

"Well, it's gotten a bit full in here. Why don't you all go out into the garden while we stay in here?" She was referring to the children going outside, and it was all right with me, so I followed the Weasley kids outside to their magnificent garden, the likes of which I've never seen, before or since. All the plants were growing higgledy-piggledy and everywhere you looked there was some other interesting bloom or fruit or vine to admire. And, as an added bonus, the Sun was still out! For no apparent reason, I started running and doing cartwheels through the rows of plants, along the many walkways. I'm pretty sure I made quite a sight, a green-haired girl randomly spinning in the garden, but at the moment, I couldn't have cared less! I was feeling the sunshine for the first time in what felt like forever, and I wasn't cooped up in Mrs. Jones' apartment.

By the time I made it back to where the others were I was gasping for breath with a stitch in my side (it really was a very large garden), and everyone had settled down into a relative circle. Relative meant that Percy was nearby, but he had his nose in a book. I got the feeling he was only here because he was required to be. I plopped down on my back in the grass and closed my eyes, still breathing heavily.

"Having fun?" a voice asked teasingly. I cracked one eye open and turned my head towards the voice. Upon seeing it was one of the twins, I sat up and answered, "A ton. And you?"

He looked at me for a few seconds, and then, suddenly, asked, "Why do you have a black streak in your hair?" At this, Percy looked up irritably from his book, _A History of Prime Ministers_, and scolded his brother, "Don't be rude! She's our guest and you shouldn't ask questions like that, George!" George rolled his eyes at Percy, saying back, "I'm Fred, four-eyes! And she's not offended or anything, are you?" He directed the last half at me because I was giving him a look. I just thought it was funny that he asked after the streak of black and not the mass of green it was surrounded by. I liked that.

"Oh, no, I'm fine with the question, don't worry. It's just that most people would ask why my hair was green instead of why there's a black streak through it. It's because I felt like it, really." Lizzie and I shared a private look that said, "If only they knew." Percy grumbled about delinquents messing with their hair color and returned to his book, which wasn't all that much of a downer, actually.

While Lizzie was talking Quidditch with Ginny, who was surprisingly knowledgeable on the subject, Fred, George, Ron, and I all formed a bit of a circle of our own. We joked and laughed endlessly, me asking them about Hogwarts and them asking me about life in America. At one point, George (or Fred, I couldn't tell the difference yet) asked, "Tell me this, how did you know that Ron was afraid of spiders? I mean, just look at your shirt. It's almost directly aimed at Ron!" I had had no idea of this phobia, but I decided to have a little fun with it (heh heh heh). "Oh, I was cursed as a baby to become a giant spider every full moon. All arachnids know when someone is afraid of spiders." Even though he knew I was joking, he still got a little paler under his freckles as he chuckled weakly. Hmm, maybe I could take this a step further…

"Oh, I'm not kidding. I turn into green lynx spider, so that's why my hair is green." Now he was _really_ pale and he looked like he was about to run away until Fred, George, and I collapsed in laughter at his facial expression. But now they were curious as to why my hair was green, again. "Sorry, trade secret! Can't tell ya, or it'd be all over England by Monday." They begged and prodded, but I was adamant, so they eventually gave up and we moved on the twins' misadventures at Hogwarts.

This afternoon was like a dream; I felt so happy and comfortable around the whole family, even Percy on the few occasions that he actually said anything to me, and it passed by as quick as lightning. Soon it was time for dinner, and then, far too soon after that, it was time to leave. I said my sad goodbyes to everyone, thought the one to Percy was awkward because we had spent almost the entire time ignoring each other. As we went back to Mayfield Apartments and walked up the stairs, we were all chattering about how amazing our visit was and how nice the Weasleys were.

**A/N Okay, so I'm going to try to fit in Diagon Alley somewhere in the next chapter, and maybe we'll meet someone we know there! This is the first time I've had to deal with canon characters, so I really want to know how I did! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N Sorry, this is pretty much a filler, but I'll probably fit Diagon Alley into the next chapter somewhere.**

It was already getting late, so we all separated to our rooms. There was too much elation left in me to go to sleep, so I leaned against a wall and surveyed the room. I felt all sorts of emotions at once, happiness, excitement, calm and…I guess you could call it yearning. Yearning to be back in the carefree atmosphere of the garden. Together, it was a quite indescribable mess of feelings. Ha! It was unspeakable mess in the old house of an Unspeakable.

"Unspeakable," I whispered, just to hear it. And the moment after that I nearly had a heart attack because THE WALL BEHIND ME DISSAPEARED! I fell onto the ground and stared around in disbelief. There actually was a secret-something in my room! I looked back into my room and then into the darkness. It was obviously a short tunnel, but I didn't know what was at the end, and that was what bothered me. But my idiotic curiosity just _made_ me go and get a flash light to explore. Like I had assumed, the tunnel was short, barely 20 feet long, but the room that I saw around a bend in the tunnel is what really stunned me.

It most definitely had an enchantment on it because there was no way in the world that this room could fit in here any other way. It was a large room with book shelves, all of them empty, and a grand fireplace in one corner. There was also an antique desk pushed in a far corner. The floor was carpeted with something plush but resilient, and a solitary window on a wall across from me had the remnants of draperies of some kind of purple material. As I took it all in, I realized I finally, _finally,_ had someplace to put my books!

However, I would show this place the Melanie, Jessica, and Max before I touched anything because they deserved to know that they had been right about the secret room. I knew there was something suspicious about that wall! Now I was _really_ too excited to go to sleep, but I'd had a long day. I left the magnificent room and went back to my own, resealing the passageway by saying 'Unspeakable' again. While getting ready for bed, I wondered about all the things I could do in a room like that, but any real testing would have to be tomorrow.

_The next morning… _

I stretched luxuriously as I woke up, still in a good mood from yesterday. It was Sunday, so I decided to do something I hadn't done in a while; sit down and read a book. The last one had been Hogwarts, A History, and I had cut it off in the middle because of the move. After riffling through my book boxes to find it, of course, in the one at the very bottom, I used most of the morning to complete it. I felt quite proud that I had been able to collect so much information so quickly. Almost a month ago, I had never heard of Hogwarts. I checked my calendar quickly; we would be getting our letters from Hogwarts anytime soon!

Strolling out of my bedroom to the kitchen, I nodded a slightly sleepy 'good morning' to my Dad, who was sitting on the balcony couch outside with a cup of coffee. I suspected Mom would have one, too, and my assumption was correct. She and Lizzie were sitting at the kitchen, Mom with coffee and Lizzie with a glass of milk. I joined them and we sat in a comfortable silence for a good 5 minutes. Then, Mom asked us, "What are you two planning to do today?" I told her vaguely I was going to hang out with Max, Jessica, and Melanie and Lizzie said that she was going to play some Quidditch with the guys. Mom and I raised one eye brow at her identically when she said this, but didn't question it. I was just wondering why she hung out with them; they were always jerks to me, but nice to her even if _she_ had been the one to end the conversation we had had earlier. Well, she could hang out with whoever she wanted as long as they didn't get her in trouble.

As Lizzie and I went to start our days, Mom strolled over to Dad and curled up beside him on the couch. I believe that they stayed that way pretty much the rest of the morning; sitting next to each other on the couch, just enjoying each other's company in silence. It almost made me jealous sometimes; it made me wonder if _I_ would ever find someone I could do that with.

That thought aside, today was a special day! I was going to tell them about the Weasleys and show my friends the room. Maybe Mr. Myles had forgotten something when he left. It would be one step closer to discovering some of the former tenant's secrets.

Especially for Max, I wore one of my more confusing t-shirts, a grey one with Pi saying, "Get real," to the square root of negative 1, which was answering back, "Be rational." Let's see you understand this one, Maxie-boy!

Nearly skipping down the stairs to the lobby, I ran out to the park and over to the shady tree where I had had my first conversation with them. Both Jessica and Melanie were already there, but we still had to wait for Max to join us. Thankfully, he didn't take long to arrive.

"You will never ever _ever_ guess what happened yesterday!" I exclaimed excitedly. "Well, then, why don't you tell us, if we're never going to guess," Jessica answered, amused at my obvious enthusiasm. I told them about my day with the Weasleys, describing them, the garden, and what we talked about. Max seemed to relate to Percy when I said he'd had his nose in a book the whole time. "But the weirdest thing happened in my room! I was leaning against a wall, said the word 'Unspeakable' (you had to know my train of thought), and part of it disappeared! You were actually right, Max!" They were all speechless at this revelation, until Max broke the silence by interjecting, "Why do you sound so surprised that I was right?!" We all chuckled at his mock-outraged tone.

"Come on, do you want to see it? I haven't touched anything in it because I wanted to show it to you three first." They all nodded enthusiastically, their eyes shining with the prospect of adventure, but right at that moment, a _huge_ stream of owls crossed in front of the Sun and poured letters into the apartment building's mail slot, widened for just this sort of thing. All the kids of Hogwarts age sprinted towards the building and their letter, desperately trying to get there before the others. We didn't hurry fast enough, so we got caught on the tail end of this huge mob of students. By the time we reached the mail counter, the man behind it was very flustered and simply shoved the letters at us, as if trying desperately to get away from all the children that were crowding his desk.

The four of us broke away from the crowd, tearing our letters open greedily. Each was addressed in emerald green on a heavy parchment:

Dear Ms. Hendrix,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

P.S. As your owl has arrived later than scheduled, we await your owl by no later than August 12.

"August 12? That's today!" There was a mad dash to reply to the letter, many people only scribbling a sentence or two of acceptance. We all agreed to look into the matter of the secret room later, after the resulting frenzy of the letters being resent was over and most of the people had gone shopping. _Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment_, I pondered over her words. _Was there a choice in the matter_? And just where had I heard the name McGonagall before? Oh, right! Mrs. Jones had said she was the Gryffindor's head of house.

I rushed up the stairs, closely followed by other students, until I was the only one going up the last flight to the 12th floor. Barging into the apartment, I nearly flew to the balcony and ripped the door open. My parents were already waiting for me, having also seen the swarm of owls and realized what it meant. I showed them the letter excitedly, explaining that we had to go shopping for my stuff _now_, and going on and on about how it was so close to the start of term and I hadn't even read my course books yet or thought about what house I wanted to be in.

My Mom cut me off by simply pointing over the edge of the balcony at the ground below. When I had peered over the side, I realized what she meant. An enormous mass of people was streaming out of the door of the building, all frantically trying to get into taxis before the other families. "Oh. Tomorrow, then?" I asked hopefully. I really did want to read my course books before term started.

"It'll either be tomorrow or the day after that. Those are work days, so your father won't be here, but until I have a job as well, I can take you. We might have Lizzie tag along, too, so she can see the kind of things she'll need next year," she answered calmly. I nodded and skipped back inside to the couch. I looked back inside the envelope for the 'enclosed list of necessary books and equipment'. Most of it was standard things like cloaks, scales, a cauldron, and protective gloves, but all the books had very eye-catching titles, like _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander and _The Dark_ _Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble.

The bottom two lines where the ones that interested me the most, however. 'Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad' and 'PARNTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.' It seems like they were pretty adamant on the last point; Lizzie wouldn't like hearing that! But a pet? What should I choose? I most definitely wasn't going to get a toad; they were bumpy and weird-looking. But a cat I could deal with and an owl wouldn't be too bad. After deliberating for a minute or two, I decided on an owl, because it could carry my mail.

**A/N Shout out to my friends who I'm forcing to read this XD! Another shout out to golden-priestess, TheTinyTimelord, and Ciarle for following! What kind of owl should she get? And don't say snowy white like Hedwig!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N I'm sorry it took so long to upload, but I've had a full week practicing for a band thing that's coming up. I wanted to fit in getting her Hogwarts stuff, so I had to make this one extra long, although I don't think anyone will complain about that! Shout out to all my new followers and reviewers!**

Now that that was settled I went back on my merry way to see the other three again. Maybe they had come to the same conclusion and would be willing to wait to go and get their stuff with me. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen; it looked like I would be shopping without them.

_A few hours later…_

"Hey, Alexia! We just got back with our school stuff; do you want to see them?" Melanie called to me from across the lobby, where I had just exited from Mrs. Jones' apartment after telling her about my afternoon with the Weasleys and my letter. I rushed over to the three of them, all laden down with bags and packages of varying sizes and shapes.

"Yes, well, we all have the same things, so can we just look at one person's stuff after the rest of us drop our own off in our apartments?" Max panted, red-faced from the exertion of having to carry all of the Hogwarts gear he had recently bought. Melanie volunteered to host the arrangement, so I grabbed some of her bags, Max grumbled at that, and we followed her up the stairs.

Max and Jessica turned off at their floors, but Melanie and I kept going until we reached the tenth floor. Melanie's apartment looked very similar to mine even though it was smaller. The walls were the same beige color, but the paintings were slightly more abstract, more like splashes of color rather than pictures. There were small paint handprints on some of the doors and toys strewn across the living room floor; I got the impression that Melanie had a younger sibling or two.

As we set down some of the bags, her Mom came in the front door with a few other packages and a wicker basket that I stared at curiously until Melanie opened it, pulling out a tabby cat. As she held the cat, it started purring and rubbing its check on her. She giggled and explained, "This is my new cat, Archimedes, Archie for short. Isn't he just _gorgeous_?!" She was right; his dark stripes over silver fur were almost tiger-like and his glowing green eyes stared at me unblinkingly. "There was a ginger one there that I was considering named Crookshanks, but I felt like this one was better suited for me," she added.

"I want to get an owl, but I don't know which kind I'll get, so I'm waiting until I see it to decide on a name," I returned casually. "But what about your wand? What's it made of?" She reached over to a long, thin box on the table, opened it, and slid out a wand. "It's cherry and unicorn hair, 12 ¼ inches, swishy. It shot out blue sparks when I picked it up," she answered proudly. Oh, but I wanted a wand so badly at that moment! And Jessica and Max had their own, too! I was the only one without a wand in the group.

At that moment, the others came in through the door with only a slim box as well. It was as if they could read my mind! "I thought I'd outta bring my wand to show you three, but then I find that Jessica has had the same idea!" Max seemed just the tiniest bit irritated that he wasn't as original as he thought he would be, but was getting over it.

"Mine is beech wood and dragon heartstring, 10 inches, nice and flexible. Mr. Ollivander tried nearly twenty wands before he got it right! He was getting pretty excited, too," interjected Jessica, right before Max could continue. He gave her a dirty look before saying, "And mine is ebony and unicorn hair, 11 inches, quite whippy. He got _mine _right away. There were a ton of people there, too."

"I wish I had a wand," I complained. They all looked at me sympathetically, and Melanie tried to comfort me by saying, "Don't worry, you'll have one soon enough. Do you want to look at my course books?" I happily agreed, all traces of sullenness gone. We stayed there for the rest of the afternoon.

_The next day…_

"Hurry up, would you?" I urged my Mom to move faster getting ready to go shopping. "You're always in such a hurry these days, sheesh! We'll get there when we get there!" I groaned at her for using such an 'old person' phrase and went out to the living room to wait for her.

After I had sat for nearly 5 minutes with Lizzie, she came out of the kitchen. Jumping up, I almost dragged them both out of the door to the lobby. We walked to the front desk, Mom asking where the best place to find school supplies was and for directions there. "Oh, you'll be wanting Diagon Alley, then; that's where everyone goes." The woman behind the desk wrote down an address, handed it to us, and said, "Just give that to the taxi driver and they'll know where to go. Look for The Leaky Cauldron; the bartender will help you when you get there." Thanking her, we walked outside to herald a taxi. _Bartender?_ I thought. _What_ _sort of place was the Leaky Cauldron, anyway?_

The taxi dropped us off on a crowded Muggle street, in front of a small, shabby pub. The three of us entered rather timidly at first, but grew bolder when we saw the cozy atmosphere of the place. Walking to the bar, Mom asked the wizened bartender how to get to Diagon Alley. He pointed the way to…a dirty, walled courtyard. However, Mom strode confidently over to the trash can in the corner and started counting the bricks above it. "Three up…two across." She tapped the chosen brick three times with her wand, and then pulled back as a door way in the bricks appeared, starting in the brick she had tapped.

Though the door way was a cobbled street that was packed to the bursting point with witches and wizards of every age. I pulled out my list, and then looked at the store signs, picking the closest first. The Cauldron shop was emptier than the street outside, thankfully, and Mom was able to fit my new pewter cauldron inside her magically-enlarged-on-the-inside bag that she had brought especially for this reason. The next store over had the scales, telescope, and phials that I needed ('Oh, can I have the crystal ones, please please please?!'). In the Apothecary, I got a beginner's stock of potion ingredients and was so absorbed by gawking at all of the exotic wares that my Mom almost had to drag me out of there.

Next was Eeylops Owl Emporium, a small and dark shop filled with jewel-bright eyes and rustling creatures. The first thing I saw was the most beautiful owl I've ever seen sitting proudly on a perch near the desk. It was pitch black with a white, heart-shaped face and white spots down its back. It was staring at me with big black eyes; I knew at that moment that it was _my_ bird and that it had been waiting for me. Suddenly, it flew over to me and landed on my shoulder like it was made to be there. Mom and Lizzie, seeing this, gave each other a look, simultaneously agreeing that this was the one. Without hesitation, we strolled to the counter, me still with my furry passenger, and bought it. "This one's a special owl," the man behind the counter informed us as he handed us a cage and some owl food. "She's nearly one of a kind. Her species almost got wiped out, but there are still a few left in the world somewhere." She was just like me, almost completely alone! But I would be her family now.

As we left with the owl now in the cage, I looked around for a book shop, a clothing shop, and a wand shop, the three places we had yet to go. "Might as well get the uniforms over with," Lizzie advised. Mom and I agreed and walked in. Nearly an _hour_ later, we exited with three sets of plain black robes, one pointed hat that I resolved never to wear, a winter cloak, and a pair of protective dragon hide gloves.

Across the way was Flourish and Blotts, one of the stores I had been looking forward to the most. Shelves were everywhere and all were filled to the brim with books of every size and shape imaginable. I wandered toward one of the closest shelves and started skimming the titles with Lizzie while my Mom took the list and gathered the course books I would need. Many of them were in strange languages I didn't understand, but the few that I could read were ones that I wanted really badly know that I knew that they existed. _When You See the Grim_ by Clive Timorous and _The Secret of the Morphers_ by Preston Viscosity. Secret of the Morphers, huh? I pulled it off the shelf and leafed through it for a few seconds before ending up on page 24.

"No one knows why Metamorphmagi are born as they are, but what is known, however, is that they will sometimes pass down their traits to their children. Their ability to change form is admired by many, but a few others feel a certain distaste for the minority; most of them being those who also despise Muggle-born witches and wizards-" I stopped reading right there, feeling queasy. Suddenly, all I wanted was to get out of this store, to get away from that book, the one that was bringing back my old fears of being an outcast. Fortunately Mom was done, so we exited soon after. Who would make a book on Metamorphmagi, anyway?

The only thing left now was a wand. Pushing the book to the back of my mind, I shoved through the crowd to get to a narrow shop with the words _Ollivanders: Makers of_ _Fine Wands since 382 B.C_ emblazoned over the door. There were a few people with first year students here, waiting for their turn to get a wand. Thankfully, most people had gotten their things yesterday, so the shop wasn't as crowded as it could have been. The girl who was trying out at the moment had a squashed-in looking face and a smug smirk. I instantly didn't like her, just from that expression. I seriously hoped that whatever house I got into didn't have _her _in it. Suddenly, out of the wand she was holding, burst a smoke-like, incandescent snake, beautiful, but still horrible. I _really_ didn't like that and I had to try hard to make sure my hair didn't faze in disgust.

The frail old man next to her clapped his hands and smiled joyously. This must be Ollivander, then. I noticed a pile of discarded wands next to them and realized that she had probably been doing this for a while. "That'll be seven galleons, Mrs. Parkinson." The woman, who looked like an older copy of her daughter (or vice versa) paid up and they promptly left the shop. The next in line was a slightly chubby boy with a severe looking woman next to him, probably his grandmother, who was barking orders at Mr. Ollivander, who didn't seem to appreciate it but was going along with it anyway. First, there came the measuring, the tape eventually doing it all by itself.

Mr. Ollivander was looking at the measurements with interest. Abruptly, he spun around and walked to a nearby shelf, stared around for the right one, and then selected one carefully, which he then brought back to the boy. "Here, try this one. Sycamore and phoenix feather, 10 inches, nice and flexible. Give it a wave, now." The boy waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once. He tried about three more wands until he got the right one, which let out a deafening trumpet call that I recognized as Reveille on bugle. You would recognized it too if your family had a bunch of cousins in the military (they wouldn't wake up to anything else)! As it was, I could tell that most of the people didn't recognize it.

"Good, Neville. Now we can go get your other things," the old woman said proudly, but still severely somehow. Neville just nodded with a cheery grin on his face. The other two people in front of us all got their wands in short order, thank goodness, so now it was my turn.

I stepped up eagerly to be measured by his magical measuring tape, hoping to get my wand sooner rather than later. After the tape had basically measured everything there was to measure about me, Mr. Ollivander pulled a wand from the stack that was still on the floor after the Parkinson girl. "How about this one? It's rosewood and unicorn hair, 9 inches, unyielding." I grabbed it and waved it about a bit, but Mr. Ollivander took it from my hand quickly. "Hmm, perhaps this one. Mahogany and dragon heartstring, 10 ¼ inches, springy." Wand after wand, attempt after attempt, we searched for my wand for nearly 20 minutes. He picked one up, stared at it while he twirled it in his long fingers, as if debating something. Finally, he turned to me, saying, "Well, I don't see why not. Here, give this one a go." As soon as I had grabbed it, I felt a connection. Warmth flooded through my fingertips and into my arm; I knew this was the one. Confidently, I swished it like a conductor and a fountain of chocolate flew out of it, just like when I was little, except this time I felt no panic, only a wondrous sense of accomplishment, though I really hadn't done anything. Both Mom and Lizzie clapped at my fountain, which I shut off with another flick.

I turned to smile at Mr. Ollivander, to thank him for finding me the perfect wand, but he was looking at me uneasily. Instantly wary, I inquired, "What's wrong, Mr. Ollivander?" This only deepened his look of discomfiture. "Well, if it chose you, then you had better know." He told the rest of the customers to hold on and lead us deeper into the recesses of his shop. When we were out of earshot of the other people, he turned back to us with a grave expression on his face. "I only make wands with phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, and unicorn hair cores nowadays," he began. This wasn't going to go well, I could just tell. "However, back when I was young, I would make the odd wand for specific individuals. I would use any material that the buyer wanted, within reason. One day, a young couple strolled in, saying that they wanted a wand made for the girl. Well, of course I didn't know what she was, so I made the wand. Here, hand it to me."

I gave him the wand with trembling fingers, wondering where this story was going and if I actually wanted to know. "Yes, I remember it like it was yesterday. Cedar, 11 inches, surprisingly swishy. But the core, oh, the core! They had a most odd request, but it wasn't impossible, so I procured it. The tail hair of a Thestral. Then, when they came to pick it up, the man hands it to the woman and says, 'Here, try a spell.' You see, this woman was a Muggle, and he wasn't expecting it to work." Ollivander squeezed his silvery eyes closed as if that could help to block out the memory. "She, also thinking it wouldn't work, shouted, 'Petrificus Totalus!' It actually worked! They were both shocked, but at the time, I couldn't understand why."

This was the turning point in the story; it could get worse or better from here. "The woman was so shaken that she ran out of the store, dropping the wand and leaving him on the floor, frozen. I unfroze him in short order, of course, and he ran after her, shouting at her for leaving him there. I never saw either of them again. This is the wand that I made for that couple, still here, having never been matched to anyone. I only bring it out in extremely tricky cases, hoping to be rid of it and to please my customer at the same time. If you don't want it, it's perfectly alright, but I don't believe any other wand would suit you as well as that particular one." Although that was a terrible story to tell someone who was about to buy the wand, it hadn't turned me away from the wand at all. The wand could allow Muggles to use magic! My wand, my owl, and I all had an interesting secret. It was fate.

"Oh, don't worry, I still want this one," I assured him. He looked slightly relieved, but gave me one last caution. "Thestrals are known for being bringers of bad luck. Don't say I didn't warn you." With that last ominous sentence, he led us back to the front of the shop where even more people were now waiting. Mom paid the seven galleons and we all walked out of the shop with a silence hanging over us, a thoughtful silence. Why this wand? Why _me_? Lizzie, however, was determined not to let us leave under such a silence, so she loudly pointed out, "Hey, there's a joke shop right over there, why don't we go inside?" The Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop was just a little ways up the street from us, so we thought, _What the heck_, and went inside.

Inside was a veritable explosion of color, sounds, and children running every which way. And what a shop! America didn't have many stored like this, or if they did exist, they were far away from where I lived. Entering this place, it was like all of my childhood dreams had come true. Just from where I was standing, I could see colorful labels for things called 'Fanged Frisbees', 'Sugar Quills', and 'Dungbombs'. _Could a sugar_ _quill actually write_, I wondered as I rushed towards the shelf. As it turns out, they could! Someone had charmed a sugar quill to write what you tell it to, just to prove this point, and of course, almost all of the things it had written were stupid and immature. What else could you expect? Hmm, I should have it write my name. No, I should have it write, 'I was here'!

"Sugar Quill," I addressed it. It stood to attention. "Write 'I was here', please." Even though I was expecting it, I still face-palmed when it wrote 'Right eye was hear, please.' For good measure, I took two off of the shelf and moved on to Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks. The whole area was smoky, but at least nothing was on fire like it would have been if they were real fireworks. Hence the name _fire_works. I was deciding between a smallish box, because I wouldn't really have any reason to use them, or a large box because I _really_ wanted to do a grand display in our apartment, when I heard a familiar voice behind me say, "Er, excuse me, can I get past you?"

Where had I heard that voice before? I turned around to find Ron Weasley right behind me, trying to edge around me without knocking into me or any of the shelves. "Ron?" I exclaimed in surprise. He looked at me, confused as to how I knew his name, before he recognized me.

"Alexia? Your hair isn't green!"

"Wow, that's the first thing you're going to say? Not 'Hey, haven't seen you in while!' or 'How's life?' No, just 'Your hair's not green,'" I replied sarcastically. His ears went a bit red at that, but he continued, also saying sarcastically, "Hi, Alexia. How's life, then?"

"Oh, it's just peachy, Ronald. And yours?" He gave me a half-smile for that and shot back, "Yes, very lovely now that the begonias are in bloom." We continued this sardonic small-talk until I suddenly remembered that he had been trying to get around me in the first place. I gestured for him to step past me, and he did so with a feigned air of sophistication, his nose in the air; I, being the equally mature member of high society that I was, snickered at him, which earned me a raised eyebrow. "Now, do carry on your merry way, sir; do not let me detain you any further from your task," I said regally.

He walked away after another half-smile and a parting sentence of, "See you at Hogwarts, I guess." I grabbed the larger box and my two sugar quills, plus a random colorful box that I saw close by with the label, 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans'. I figured that they couldn't _possibly_ mean every flavor, and that they were at least worth a go. I met up with Lizzie and Mom, both with their own merchandise, at the cash register just in time to include the wares I had picked out as well.

Heading back to The Leaky Cauldron with wide smiles on our faces, the three of us showed off what we had picked out to the others, each marveling over what we had. I had nearly forgotten that strange book in Flourish and Blotts, I now had all of my school supplies, a wand, a useful pet, and was equipped with some strange magical candy and entertainment in a box. All in all, it was a good day in Diagon Alley.

**A/N Little did she know that they actually did mean ****_every flavor..._**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N *trumpet fanfare* Here it is, the chapter you have all been waiting for! I'm sorry it took so long to write, but I'm going to have a writing spree this weekend and hopefully get a few chapters done so there won't be some much of a hold-up!**

_Later in general…_

The last few weeks of summer vacation had flown by in a blur of packing, unpacking, repacking, more buying in Diagon Alley, and days spent laughing and lazing around under the tree in the park with Melanie, Max, and Jessica. I had decided to name my owl Nyx, after the goddess of night, for her black feathers and almost star-like spots. The others agreed with my choice after assessing the owl for a few seconds; Nyx seemed to like her name, too.

I saved the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and most of the fireworks for today, the day when we would be getting on the Hogwarts Express. I had put on a little fireworks display for my family yesterday evening, filling the living room with burst of light everywhere, all in different colors and some in shapes. I was eager to do it again! But, sadly, it would have to wait until the four of us got on the train.

When I woke up, it was nearly 9 o'clock in the morning! It was far too late; we had to get ready _now_, before we missed the train, which left at 11. I tore out of my bedroom, prepared to wake everyone else up, forcefully if I had to, but they were already in the kitchen, eating a breakfast of ham and cheese omelets. I was the only one not ready to go, as it turned out. They hadn't awoken me because Mom had said that I needed the sleep for my big day.

Rushing back to my room, I hurriedly showered and dressed in a black t-shirt that said, "Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman, then always be Batman." The reaction of the students that had grown up separated from Muggles would be priceless! I was out again and grabbing my trunk and Nyx, in her cage, in a heartbeat, ready to go, go, go, but my family was still just sitting at the table. Realizing we still had time, I sat down at the table, too, and we proceeded to talk about Hogwarts. It wasn't anything too in-depth, really (it was more about the classes and houses), but I could sense an undercurrent of worry from my parents, who were just now feeling the full effect of not seeing me until Christmas.

"You promise to write me, don't you?" I asked nervously as it hit me as well that I would only be able to talk to them through letters for the next few months. They all nodded simultaneously, relieved that they wouldn't have to force their correspondence on me. Trying not to ruin the moment with pointless talk, we sat together as a family for the last time, for a while, in complete silence. We just enjoyed each other's company, everyone nursing a drink. Eventually, it was time to go and the time of silence was over.

Because we lived in London, and were, therefore, somewhat near it, we could afford to leave for King's Cross Station relatively close to 11. Everyone else, however, was determined to get there early, apparently, because the lobby was nearly empty of families heading to the station. Thankfully, I had agreed to meet my friends in the lobby so we go into the station together when we got there. All four families headed out to the taxis that were outside, which were now accustomed to this yearly surge of people from Mayfield going to the station to send their children to boarding school in Staffordshire, or so they thought. We all piled into separate taxis and headed for the station.

The traffic was absolutely horrible; the clock was steadily ticking towards 11 o'clock and I was getting steadily more nervous that we would miss the train. I didn't even know what I would do if that happened! Maybe send the school an owl or something. However, we were lucky and reached the station with 20 minutes to get inside and on the train. Trying not to seem suspicious, we walked quickly with our trolleys to the barrier in between platforms 9 and 10, like the receptionist at the desk had said, running at it because time was still slipping away from us. After a few hurried good-bye's and last minute hugs, we boarded the train with 5 minutes to spare. The four of us set off down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment.

About halfway down the train, we found one. Heaving our trunks onto the racks above our heads, we settled in for the ride and our first year of magical education. Jessica leaned out of the window to kiss her mother good bye and then Max leaned out to grab something that apparently he had forgotten to pack. As the train started to move, I spotted Ginny running by the train, waving at a window not too far behind us, and figured that one of her brothers was in that car. I turned back to the rest of the compartment with an ecstatic grin, matching the ones on my friends' faces. We were off!

Feeling mischievous, I pulled out the fireworks box with a smirk. "Guess what we'll be doing for the next 20 minutes?" I said in a sing-song voice. Jessica pumped her fist in the air, saying, "Yes!" We all dug out a handful of mini fireworks, setting them off in random rounds, first one person and then the next, in an amazing medley of colors, until one nearly broke Jessica's glasses by exploding in her face. Although she laughed it off, we decided to stop using the fireworks in such close quarters.

Of course then I pulled out my next experiment, the Every Flavor Beans. These were, at least, less destructive. When Max saw them, his face went pale, for some strange reason. "No! Nuh-uh! We are not messing with those things!" I rolled my eyes at him; he was being such a wimp.

"Oh, come on, Max. Don't be a baby!" I cajoled him, trying to tempt him into joining me. Both Melanie and Jessica were looking at the box warily, too. But they were just jelly beans! What was the big problem?

Seeing my confusion at their reactions, Jessica explained, "When they say every flavor, they _mean_ every flavor. I thought they were exaggerating, too, when I first had them. Max always gets all of the bad ones, so now he avoids them like the plague." He nodded at me with a look of suffering.

Still not convinced, I opened the box and took out a green-colored bean, appraised it dubiously, and then popped it into my mouth. I tried not to spit it out when the flavor of grass flooded into my mouth, but, as it was, my face contorted into a grimace as I forced myself to swallow it. Wow, that was really realistic! Answering their unspoken question, I simply said, "Grass," and then returned my attention to the beans still in the box. Next, I choose a deep brown one, which turned out to be coffee. I went on tasting, Melanie eventually joining in, but Jessica and Max stayed as away from the beans as possible.

After the beans, we talked about Hogwarts; the classes we were looking forward to, what it was going to look like, how we were going to get there, how big it was going to be, and other such things. The topic of houses came up at some point, and I was curious about which one the others wanted to be in. We decided to say it all at once. I counted off, "One, two, three…Slythgryffpuffenclaw!" All four voices exclaimed. Chuckling, I said, "Well, that's an interesting word! Now, let's straighten this out. Melanie, which do you want to be sorted into?"

Melanie replied, "Hufflepuff, of course! They're the nicest people, just like Mrs. Jones said. I can't imagine being in any other house!" She had a point there; she was undoubtedly the nicest person in our group. I then turned to Max and asked him the same thing.

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart! My brother Felix is in Gryffindor and I want to follow in his footsteps, as much as I can, really." If things kept going like they were, I would be alone in my house! Hiding a grimace, I asked Jessica the same question, hoping she would say my chosen house, Ravenclaw.

"I don't know really, but Slytherin sounds nice. I kind of like snakes, and the house has a dangerous side, unlike the others, which makes it mysterious!" I tried not to sigh; I would be alone if I was put into Ravenclaw, but it really was the house I felt like I would belong in the most.

"And what about you, Alexia? Which do you want to be in?" Melanie questioned me. "Ravenclaw, of course! I've always loved the color blue, and the students seem like they could be interesting people, you know," I answered, rather vaguely. Secretly, I wanted to be in Ravenclaw because it was the closest to the Fairweather house at SWA. Maybe I would be happier in a house that reminded me of my old home.

I opened my mouth to continue our conversation, but at that moment, a frizzy-haired girl came into our compartment followed by the boy I'd seen at Ollivander's. "Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one." She had a bossy voice, but I could tell that somewhere, deep down, she had the potential to be nice. We all shook our heads, which made Neville look even more miserable than he already was. I looked at my friends with a pleading look, and they knew what I was trying to say. "We'll help, if you like."

Neville smiled at the offer, stuttering his thanks, and the girl, who I later learned was named Hermione, said, "All right, then. You can check the corridors while we continue to ask people." Exiting the compartment, we moved down the hallway, staring about at the ground, especially in the shadowy parts. We had checked nearly the entire length of the train by the time Jessica found him, curled up near a compartment door. However, Neville and Hermione were nowhere to be found! We would just have to give the toad back when we next saw them. At least now we could go back to our compartment. Too close to the arrival time for comfort, everyone changed into their robes, Max standing outside when we were changing and vice versa.

It steadily grew closer to night, and the train started slowing down. The four of us were nervous; far more so than any other part of the journey now that we were really close to the school. We had stopped talking long ago, and now we were waiting in a tense silence as the train pulled to a stop. Leaving our luggage on the train, everybody hopped off and most headed to a road that led to a bunch of carriages in the distance. Caught up in the tide of people, we were going to follow them until we heard a gruff voice calling out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Following the swinging lantern, the first years gathered around a giant of a man that a skinny, black haired boy had called Hagrid.

He led us down a steep, narrow path that was pretty much surrounded by darkness. Nobody spoke much as we walked. The four of us stuck close together, almost huddling, until we turned a bend in the path; everyone, except Hagrid, gasped at what we saw. The path opened up to an enormous black lake; on the other side was the castle that was on the cover of Hogwarts, A History. It was so…_big_. It was almost indescribable and it was dramatically displayed in front of a starry background, the windows shining like stars themselves from the many turrets and towers. The sight took our breath away. At last, we were at Hogwarts!

**A/N Yeah, we're getting to the good stuff, now! What House will they be sorted into? Will Alexia really be alone? Find out in the next installment of ****_The Color of Magic_****! Shout to all of those people who reviewed! Guest: Trumpet; both; no; yes, you probably could; thanks!; I hope you liked it! (Sorry, that probably makes absolutley no sense to the rest of you)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N Hiya, guys! I tried to make this one a tad earlier for all of you who reviewed. You're all such nice people! When I first started this fic, I didn't really know where it was going, but all of you have inspired me not to just quit on this story when I got writer's block. That being said, I hope you enjoy the first half of Alexia's Sorting Ceremony! **

Hagrid interrupted our staring by calling to us, already a distance away down the path to the lake's shore, saying, "No more'n four to a boat!" He was pointing to a small fleet of boats, which all of the first years piled into in threes and fours. Still holding the toad, I saw Hermione and Neville in a boat close by with…was that Ron? It was! And there was that boy who I had noticed earlier. _Who's he_, I wondered, but the boats had started moving, so I didn't get a chance to give Neville his toad or find out the answer to my question about the boy.

The boats all moved at once, sailing almost silently over the glass-like surface of the lake. As Hogwarts drew closer, the boats sailed into the cliff face it was perched on and under a curtain of ivy. In the confusion of everybody exiting the boats, I lost Neville's toad! He must have hopped away while we were distracted. I was distraught for a moment before I heard Hagrid say, "Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" Seconds later, Neville cried happily, "Trevor!" I guess that was the name of his toad, then. Mission accomplished!

We had clambered out of the boats into some sort of underground harbor; on the far end, there was a dank tunnel that led up to the surface. Following Hagrid across a small grass-covered path to the front of the school, we climbed up the flight of stone steps to a huge oak front door. Hagrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the door. It swung open at once, revealing a tall woman in emerald-green robes. She looked stern, definitely not someone to cross.

"Firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. She nodded and thanked him, leading us into a gigantic entrance hall, the likes of which I'd never seen before! You could have fit my house in it and still had room to run around it! It was both grand and intimidating, to be honest. It was lit by flaming torches in brackets, with stone walls and a marble staircase across from us. There was a door nearby through which I could hear the buzzing of conversation, presumably from the hundreds of other students. However, instead of turning there, Professor McGonagall led us to a small chamber off the hall, instead.

Here she addressed us, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room…" I zoned out after that, having heard all this before, but kept half my mind focused, just in case she said anything I actually needed to hear. I zoned back in time to hear her say, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." She left after this.

Melanie began giving us all a look-over to see whether we were presentable, and then nodded her approval. "It's a good thing we aren't actually doing an obstacle course, then, don't you think, if the school's going to be watching," I joked weakly, but the others barely even smiled. Well, it had been pretty bad, after all…

No one talked much. Everyone was tense and pale, terrified at what was to come. Only Hermione was speaking; she was whispering about what spells she would need for this. I realized that most of these kids must not know what the sorting entailed, but it didn't even cross my mind to enlighten them. We were almost huddling again, drawing closer inch by inch to something that was familiar in this completely unfamiliar place.

Suddenly, about twenty pearly-white ghosts burst out of a wall, startling a scream out of many of those nearby. They were floating though solid objects like they weren't even there, nearly transparent so that I could almost see through to the wall behind them. One of them, a fat little monk, was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost-I say, what are you all doing here?"

One of the ghosts had finally noticed us, but no one answered his question. "New students," exclaimed the Fat Friar gleefully, smiling at us. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" The four of us nodded mutely, not quite back in control of our vocal chords yet.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old House, you know." Melanie perked up at this, delighted to meet someone who might be in her future House. But before she could question him, Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut her off, saying, "Move along, now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Instantly, everyone became tense again, losing whatever calm they had acquired during our brief wait.

We followed her as the ghosts glided off through another wall. Out of the chamber, across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall we went, our legs trembling both from excitement and nervousness. The Great Hall had four long tables in it, lit by thousands of floating candles that never seemed to drip wax on anyone. All four tables stretched the length of the room, with students from second to seventh year sitting up and down them. All of them were laid with glittering gold plates and goblets.

At the far end of the hall was another long table for the teachers, which Professor McGonagall was leading us to. We stopped in a line, facing the rest of the school and with our backs to the teachers. She set a stool in front of us, and then placed a pointed wizard's hat on it, one of the ugliest I've ever seen. It was patched, frayed, and dirty. There was no doubt; this was Gryffindor's hat. Everybody in the hall seemed to be staring at the hat, so I looked at it too, wondering what was going to happen.

A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gyffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I had none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

All of the students and staff burst into applause when it had finished. After bowing to each of the four tables, which was really interesting to watch, it became still again, almost like a normal hat. The faces of many of my classmates became relieved now that they knew that they only had to put on the hat, not pull a rabbit out of it or something. The thought made me kind of guilty that I didn't try to soothe their fears earlier, but I was too wrapped up in my own problems at the time.

Before I could feel too guilty, however, Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long scroll of parchment that fell almost to the floor when unrolled. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Calling out the first name, she said loudly, "Abbott, Hannah!" A girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which was far too large for her head, and sat down. After a second or two, the brim opened again and shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" A table on the right cheered as she went to go sit down. Melanie was looking after her like she was trying to remember her face. _Sheesh, already planning on who to sit by_, I thought peevishly, mostly because I hadn't thought of it yet, which was causing me even more anxiety.

"Bones, Susan!" Another new Hufflepuff joined the cheering ranks. "Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" Yay, one of mine! He went to sit at the table second from the left, where several people stood up to shake his hand. "Brocklehurst, Mandy" also became a Ravenclaw, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first Gryffindor, which caused the table on the far right to explode with cheers. As she happily skipped towards the table, I spotted Fred, George, and Percy standing up to congratulate her; all of the sudden, being in Gryffindor didn't seem like such a bad thing after all, even if it _was_ Felix's House. _Don't be silly_, I chastised myself. _You belong in Ravenclaw and you know it!_

As "Bulstrode, Millicent" became the first Slytherin, the "B's" ended and skipped to the "D's" for "Delgado, Grace" to gain "HUFFLEPUFF!" status, and then straight to the "F's". Suddenly, my turn was a lot closer than I had previously thought! My palms started to get sweaty, so I surreptitiously wiped them on my robes, trying to appear calm and collected to the rest of the student body. I didn't think it would work; as if my flushed face wasn't a hint enough!

After both "Finnigan, Seamus" and "Granger, Hermione" were both sorted into Gryffindor, it was Max's turn. He had been standing next to me, so I squeezed his arm by way of saying good luck. Giving me a weak look of thanks, he walked forward as Professor McGonagall called out, "Hall, Maximillion". I smiled slightly at that, as did Jessica and Melanie. _Maximillion…what a fun name_, I thought to myself. He sat there for nearly a minute, unlike most of the other first years, which had only taken a few seconds in most cases. Eventually, the hat proclaimed, "RAVENCLAW!" _What?! But he wanted to_ _be in Gryffindor…_ I almost missed Professor McGonagall call out my name in my shock.

As I heard my name called ("Hendrix, Alexia!"), I walked as smoothly and as naturally as I could with all of the eyes in the hall on me. I sat on the stool and placed the hat on my head, thankful that it slipped down over my eyes so that I couldn't see anyone else. A small voice in my ear said jokingly, "Ah, another one! Can't any of you be easy to sort? Well, now, let's see." I waited with bated breath for it to come to its conclusion, hoping against hope for Ravenclaw. I could hear snatches of the hat's conversation with itself, debating about which House I should be in.

"Intelligent, yes, but secretive; Slytherin, maybe? No, not cunning enough. Too rash for Ravenclaw, but not quite brave enough for Gryffindor. Definitely not Hufflepuff; far too opinionated…" _Well, then! There's no need to say it so rudely_, I thought angrily, unaware that the hat could hear me. "Definitely not Hufflepuff!" it shot back.

I don't really know how long I sat there as the hat debated back and forth between the Houses, but it was long enough for the other students in the Hall to start whispering, which wasn't helping my nerves in the least. "Well, it's come down to this, Alexia. What Houses do you want to be in? You're equally acceptable for either Ravenclaw or Gyffin-" _RAVENCLAW RAVENCLAW RAVENCLAW!, _I thought-screamed, cutting the hat off. I could feel the hat's amusement at this as it open its 'mouth' and exclaimed, "RAVENCLAW!"

**A/N Just a disclaimer, all of the t-shirts, except the first one, came from SnorgTees. You should check them out! I feel really nerdy every time I understand a refrence, though...**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N *drags self to computer* *click click tap* **"Uploaded Chapter 15"** Yes! I did it! I made it... *collapse***

**That foolishness aside, I really sorry it took so long to upload! I'm going to put myself into a schedual to make it more regular and accountable. From now on, I'm going to upload at least once a week. Challenge accepted! Also, I have a question for all of you down at the bottom, and make sure you answer it because it affects the next chapter.**

I barely restrained myself from pumping my fist into the air as I walked to the Ravenclaw table and sat down across from Max, who had a spaced-out look in his eyes. This worried me, so I waved my hand in front of his face, hoping for a reaction of some sort. Thankfully, he came out of his trance, but he didn't seem too happy about it.

"What do you want?" he asked grumpily, which knocked my enthusiasm from a moment ago down a peg. "Aren't you excited? We're at Hogwarts, Max! We're finally here and you're going to ruin your first night by sulking that you didn't get into Gryffindor?!" He lightened up a little at this, but not by much. "At least you got into the House you wanted, Alexia," He answered back sullenly, sinking back into the darkness. "You wouldn't understand."

My eyebrows suddenly defied gravity and almost went to the top of my forehead. "What don't I understand? Having something forced on you that wasn't what you wanted? I think I know a trifle more about that than you do, _Maximillion_." I pointed to my hair, which he understood to mean my powers. He blushed slightly now that I'd made my point, but that didn't mean he was going to apologize. We sat in a huffy silence, watching the rest of the first years get sorted. At one point, there was an uproar when the boy I'd seen earlier, 'Potter, Harry', got sorted into Gryffindor, but I didn't know why and I wasn't about to ask Max.

Soon, the names reached the "S's", of which Melanie was the only one, so she walked up to the stool, all bouncy and excited while both Max and I looked depressed that we were about to lose our friend. Or so we thought. After about 10 second's deliberation, the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" Looking stunned but at least not disappointed like Max, she headed over to our table and sat down next to Max. Sensing the quiet anger between Max and I, she said to the both of us, by way of killing the silence, "Strange turn of events, huh? At least we won't be alone in our Houses. But what about Jessica?" All three of us turned to look at her; she was next after Melanie and already sat on the stool with the hat on her head.

Shortly afterwards, the hat exclaimed, "RAVENCLAW!" She strolled over to us with a cocky grin, saying, "I figured that after you all were put together, I should join you. Did you know that it takes your opinion into account?" I nodded as she sat down next to me, having had the hat actually ask me where I wanted to go, but Max looked horror-struck at this revelation. "What?! You mean I could have _asked_ it to put me in Gryffindor?" Giving him a side-hug, Melanie replied, "Don't worry, Max. You'll be fine in Ravenclaw, and that Felix is a bad influence, anyway. It'll be good for you to get away from him." Max just nodded, looking a tad happier, enough to stop scowling at the table.

Because of this conversation, I nearly missed Ron being sorted into Gryffindor with his brothers and Harry Potter, who seemed to be his new best friend. _Good for him_, I thought. And then shortly after I was distracted by Jessica saying, in a sorrowful voice, "Melanie, I'm feeling kind of down, too. Do you think I'll be 'in control and on a roll' very soon after this heart-breaking tragedy?" _Says the one who _asked_ to be in Ravenclaw,_ I thought sardonically. Trying not to roll our eyes at the reference, we turned our attention once again to the center of the room, where the Headmaster had gotten to his feet, about to give a start-of-term speech. He had long, flowing silver hair, from both his head and his face. Nearby someone shushed another person, saying, "Shhh, Professor Dumbledore's about to speak."

He grinned at us, his arms opened wide like he was going to give us all a hug. "Welcome," he began. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

I looked questioningly at the others, wondering whether or not I had heard what he'd said correctly, but I just shrugged it off. Why not say something crazy? He was the Headmaster; he could do whatever he wanted. My attention was caught by the boy next to me politely asking, "Would you please pass the Yorkshire pudding?" Yorkshire pudding? I looked around at the table to find it completely covered with food! The dish he was looking for was just inches from my hand, so I passed it to him, while staring around at the other delectable things on the table. My plate was soon filled to the brim with all manner of foods, from pork chops to mashed potatoes to cooked carrots.

"So who do you reckon teaches what? If you had to guess, I mean," Max asked just as I finished serving myself. We all looked at the High Table, scrutinizing the teachers as if their appearance could tell us. Running through the list of courses in my head, I noticed one of the teachers, a man with greasy black hair, sallow skin, and a hooked nose. I pointed him out to the others, saying, "That one there. He's probably the Potions Master. You can tell by the way he's all pale and stuff; he looks like he spends all his time in the dungeons." Jessica nodded, but Melanie examined him closer with a look of concentration. "I don't know," she countered. "He seems more like the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; there's something about him that makes you think that he knows a lot about the Dark side. Or maybe it's just the dark eyes that give that impression."

The next teacher was spotted by Max, who pointed to a dumpy little witch with flyaway gray hair sitting next to Hagrid. "I'm thinking Herbology with this one," he said. "She's covered with dirt even though it's only the first night here!" He had a point there; I could see the earth on her clothes and skin from across the Great Hall. This thread of conversation continued on until we started speculating about what the classes might be like.

"I think they'll be interesting, but not at first because we'll just be learning the basics," Jessica said thoughtfully. I had to agree, but I hoped that even the basics would be cool. It's magic, after all! "Which class are you most looking forward too?" Melanie asked Jessica curiously. That made her pause, but she then answered, "I don't know, really. I guess I'd say I'm most looking forward to Potions, even if it's taught by that guy," She indicated the black haired man I'd pointed out earlier. Max broke in, "Well, I want to go to Defense Against the Dark Arts! Can't you just imagine all of the jinxes and hexes we'll learn for fending off bad guys and the Dark creatures of the night?! It'll be awesome, much more than huddling over a cauldron in the dungeons!"

Up for the challenge, she shot back, "Ah, but what good can your spells do against me if I've already slipped a potion into your pumpkin juice? I could make you confess your deepest secrets, paralyze you, or send you into an eternal sleep! Tremble before my mighty potion powers!" This last line was said a tad too loudly and a few Gryffindors at the next table gave her odd looks, though none of the Ravenclaws did.

"But how will your potions help you if I've ensnared you in my Venomous Tentacula? Now both assailants are defeated, and I win!" Melanie proclaimed triumphantly, like she had won an actual duel, but I wouldn't let her be victor for long. "Your Venomous Tentacula would never harm anyone ever again if I dislodge it from the ground with a Levitation charm! It'll die and so will your chances of defeating me!"

"You would kill a plant! You are indeed a most dastardly villain," Melanie said dramatically, acting like this was the most appalling thing she'd ever heard even though her own threats had been worse. We all snorted at this, but cut the conversation short because our food was getting cold.

When everybody had eaten all they could, the food on the plates vanished, leaving them as spotless as they had been before, and then they filled again with all manner of desserts. I groaned, having stuffed myself with the previous course and now had almost no room for dessert. It sure was tempting, though, all of the different cakes, pies, ice creams, and candies just within arm's reach. Max dug in without hesitation to a nearby ice cream sundae, getting whipped cream on his nose and generally making a mess; Melanie forced him to clean up the spilled mess on the table and his face later, though.

After all of this food, I was getting pretty drowsy and I could see it on the others' faces, too- the drooping eyes and glazed expressions were evidence enough. Despite that, we carried on our battle from before, each new one-up getting more and more unlikely until Max said, "And then I used a Reversal jinx to turn all of you into babies…" He trailed off in the middle of his sentence, nearly dozing off and landing his face in his plate.

Melanie poked his cheek, attempting to rouse him by saying his attack wouldn't work because 'there's no such spell, so there!' He snapped his head up, ready to defend himself, but before he could retort that 'there is too such a spell!', the desserts disappeared and Professor Dumbledore stood up. Everyone stopped talking almost instantly.

"Ahem-just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds for anyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." A few people laughed at the last sentence, but I could tell from his tone that he wasn't joking. Exchanging curious glances with my friends, I wondered what on earth could be behind that door. If it was so dangerous, why would they put it in a _school_? With_ kids_?! Before we could speculate for long however, Dumbledore exclaimed, "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" He flicked his wand and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself into words. "Everyone pick your favorite tune and off we go!" Everyone started to sing, most badly off-key:

_"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff, _

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Because everyone was singing to different tunes, some finished before others. The last ones to stop singing were Fred and George, who were singing to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand with a smile on his face. When they had finished, everyone clapped, Dumbledore being one of the loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!" There was a great scraping sound as everyone pushed back their benches to leave. The Ravenclaw first years stumbled along after a prefect named Robert, out of the hall and up the marble staircase I'd noticed earlier, not caring where we were going as long as it led eventually to a comfortable bed. We were walking with the Gryffindors at first, but they turned off while we continued up and up. This little exercise made me glad that I'd spent the last month going up 12 flights of stairs multiple times a day. Just as my legs were starting to feel like jelly, we stopped at the top floor, in front of a door with a bronze eagle-shaped knocker. Robert knocked on the door with it and, beak opening, it asked in a musical voice, "What are the key ingredients in the Draught of Living Death?" I stared at it, wondering what magic spell or charm would have made it talk, until Robert let us in by answering, "Powdered root of asphodel in an infusion of wormwood."

It was dark in the common room besides the light of the fire in the fireplace, which was big enough for me to tap-dance in. Unfortunately, I was too far gone to notice anything about the room besides the flight of stairs that Robert indicated for the Ravenclaw girls. Our group of girls branched off from the boys as they headed up a different staircase next to ours. The rooms were split into groups of three because there were usually few Ravenclaws (everyone _loves_ a Gryffindor). Fortunately, I was grouped with Jessica and Melanie, with only two other groups of girls. The four-poster beds were covered by blue sheets and a sky blue silk comforter, with all of our things already sitting at the feet of the beds. Nyx's empty cage sat by an open window near my bed; she'd probably flown off to the Owlery. Archimedes' basket was near Melanie's bed, empty as well, but I had no idea where he might be.

Changing into our pj's, the three of us crawled into our beds, which were warm and soft, like…a warm cloud, I guess? I don't know about the others, but I fell asleep the instant that my head touched the pillow and didn't dream at all.

_In a few hours_…

I awoke in the four-poster bed with my arms and legs splayed out in one of those awkward positions that you can only achieve when you're asleep. Rolling my neck to get the crick out of it, I stretched and surveyed the room, now that my mind wasn't fogged with the need to sleep. As my eyes swiveled around, they fell on my clock, which told me that I had only 2 hours to get ready! Jumping out of bed, I rushed to get all of my things together and in the process woke up my roommates. Glancing at their own clocks, they realized why I was so frenzied. Even so, Jessica just rolled over and covered her head with the blanket, mumbling something about 5 more minutes. "Aw, come on, Jessica! It's your first day at Hogwarts! Aren't you excited?" She didn't even move, probably already asleep again.

"I might be more excited if I could find my other sock!" Melanie exclaimed with uncharacteristic exasperation, digging through her trunk frantically, making even more of a mess in the process. I took pity on her and helped her shift through the bottomless abyss that was her trunk to find her missing sock. Scurrying off to the bathrooms, we rushed to take showers and get changed.

That done, we soon returned to the room, calmer now that we had fully woken up and gotten dressed. After packing our book bags for the day, we followed the trickling stream of Ravenclaws down the marble staircase to the Entrance Hall and into the Great hall for breakfast. Thankfully, all we had to do was go down the stairs, so it wasn't hard to find our way there. Like last night, the tables were set with gold plates and goblets and there was a ton of food, but now it was all breakfast things like bacon, pancakes, toast, and eggs. Piling our plates with a bit of everything, the three of us sat down, joining the majority of our House.

It didn't take long for Max to join us and we ate silently, too tense to make conversation. Jessica apparently didn't like the silence because when I asked her to pass the syrup, she said, "Should I do it syrup-ticiously?" I rolled my eyes at her attempt to lighten the mood and answered back, "No, you should just hand it to me and stop making puns!" She beamed at me, giving me a 100-watt smile as she gave me the syrup, and said confidently, "Oh, you know it was funny; you just don't want to admit it." "Yeah, right," I shot back sarcastically. "You can choose to believe that, Jessica." We both knew I was hiding a smile anyway.

"Oh, burn, Jessica!" Max interjected before she could reply. This was so un-Maxish (more like Felix than anything), that Melanie and I snickered at him while Jessica just rolled her eyes.

About ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick, a tiny, _tiny_ wizard, walked down the table and distributed out all of the schedules. We had until 9 o'clock to go to class and it was already 8:30! Staring down the list of classes for the day, I gasped in horror as I realized that I'd left my History of Magic book, _A History of Magic _(duh), up in the tower. There was no way I'd be able to get inside in time because I wouldn't know the answers to the knocker's questions! Well, it was worth a shot, anyway. History of Magic was my first class and I couldn't start off on the wrong foot, not today!

"I'm going back to the tower; I forgot one of my books. Is there anything you guys need?" They shook their heads, so I set off alone out of the Great Hall and up the marble stairs. When I finally reached the entrance to the common room, I saw that I wasn't the only one that'd forgotten something but been held back at the door.

"What's the question?" I asked a nearby Ravenclaw, a 5th year girl with curly black hair. She looked troubled. "I've never heard of it asking this philosophical of a question, but it's 'What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?' Does it make any sense to you?" She was actually asking _me_? But I was a first year! Trying not to disappoint her, I pondered the words. They were strikingly familiar, but from where…? When the answer came to me, I almost laughed out loud.

"I know what it is!" I exclaimed, a bit louder than I'd originally planned. To my surprise, the Ravenclaws cleared a path for me to walk to the door. Feeling privileged, I made my way quickly to the door, hoping that this answer would get the door open and not embarrass me in front of my House. Grabbing the eagle, I knocked once. Its beak opened up and it asked, "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?" As confidently as I could, I answered, "42!" Some of the students looked skeptical at this until the knocker replied, "Correct!" The door swung open.

Stunned, I was pushed into the common room by the swarm of students that had forgotten their books and were desperate to get them, but a few stopped by to congratulate me on answering a question on my first day. The happy balloon that grew in my chest, filling me up to the breaking point, but in a good way, stayed with me all day.

My classes were most definitely not what I'd been expecting, but I was astounded all the same. Some teachers, like Professor Sprout, were nice but gave us homework on the first day! Some were like Professor Flitwick, my Head of House, and just showed off his magic to us, giving examples of what we would learn this year. No homework from him! While the classes were okay, any decency they had was lost because it was extremely hard to find them in the first place. Everything kept moving around, I swear! The pictures and coats of armor couldn't be used as land marks because they were always in a different place from when I last saw them. It was madness in the corridors, too, because the upperclassmen already knew their way around but the first years were swarming all over the place just trying to get to class before the bell rang. That's not even to mention the staircases! Some had trick steps in the middle; some were long and sweeping like the marble one; some led somewhere different on a Friday; some moved around like escalators in Muggle malls (these were especially fun to ride). The doors were a nuisance too, but I won't even get into that.

My first day consisted of trying to get to class, finding seats with my friends, marveling at magic, going to another class (wash, rinse, and repeat), meeting new people from other Houses, and generally wearing myself out. Strangely enough, however, I felt more alive and focused than ever before. I was totally in my element here! Even after one day, I could tell I was going to fit in just fine.

**A/N Okay, here's the big question. You want me to skim over the first week like J. K. Rowling did or do you want a blow-by-blow of her first day? Answer quickly because I've already started writing and I don't want to get too far into it if you all want something else!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N Hello hello hello! Welcome back to magical world of Alexia Hendrix (and Harry Potter)! I compromised on this chapter, skipping over most of the week, but doing an almost blow-by-blow of Friday. I also added in the answer to a question you may have...**

The days flew by, one class after another, in a rapid succession of homework assignments and magical displays. It was Friday before I knew it and my first week of magical education was nearly complete. Our first class was Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall's class. I'd heard from Ron, who I had met in the hallway on Wednesday, that she let us try real spells in the first lesson, so we were all waiting outside the Transfiguration classroom nearly 10 minutes early, being the good little students that we were. Everyone was psyched-up to do some serious magic, though what magic that may have been, we couldn't guess. Of course, all we were really going to do was turn matches into pins, but Terry Boot was preaching about turning desks into pigs and mice into cups (and so on and so forth).

When we all flooded into the classroom a few minutes later, the disappointment was evident. All we found were tiny little matches that, according to the notes we copies from the board, we were going to turn into pins. How lame is that? But, still, magic is magic, so we got down to business.

The incantation was simple and so was the wand movement, but I couldn't seem to make the spell work. The noise and movement of the other students trying the spell wasn't helping, either. Thinking back to one of my course books, _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling, I remembered a line from chapter three, where he'd explained that magic was an act of will and concentration. Well, I'd just spent half a month exercising my will and concentration to control my metamorphing powers. I'd just apply the same principles to this, then! Concentrating solely on the match and envisioning it going all sharp and silvery, I said the incantation and flicked my wand. Nothing happened. Attempting to contain my frustration, I tried again. This time, the ends of the match grew pointier. Feeling more optimistic, I repeated the spell, forcing the match to bend to my will. It turned silver in color, but I could tell it was still made of wood. _Fourth time's the charm_, I encouraged myself, even though that wasn't quite how the saying went.

_Okay, here we go. One…two…THREE!_ One final time, I chanted the spell, hoping for the best. Before my eyes, the match lost its wooden look and became silver, a common pin like the ones at Madame Malkin's, but to me it was like a solid gold trophy, six feet tall. Before I could jump out of my chair in excitement, I heard Jessica growl, "It certainly took you long enough!"

Thinking she was talking to me, I turned, but she was glaring at a big, muscular boy, a Slytherin by the look of his robes. He had two matches in his hands and a sheepish look on his face. Later I found out that these were replacements for the ones he'd accidentally broken. Jessica, whose match had been one of the two that was broken, had forced him to exchange them for new ones from the teacher (not a happy job). Behind me, I heard a voice whisper, "Poor Goyle, being bossed about by _her_! Must be a nightmare to sit next to her."

I whipped around, ready to defend my friend. The speaker was a pale boy with a pointed face and white blonde hair that was slicked back, making his face seem longer than it was. He had an edge to his voice that I didn't like, but his eyes were innocent, too innocent to suggest that he could do any real harm to anyone, however mean or insensitive he may act. The boy next to him, probably his friend, seemed like he could do some damage, though. If you looked up the definition of 'caveman', his picture would be next to it. As he chuckled at what the pale boy had said, I could hear his ridiculously-deep-for-an-11-year-old voice. Unfortunately, it made him sound even more stupid than he actually was.

"Hey, you watch your mouth!" The pale boy looked up from his desk as I said this, the expression on his face annoyed. "I'm sorry, was I talking to you?" he replied with an eyebrow raised. "No, but when people talk about my friends like that, I tend not to care whether you were saying it to me or someone else! If you have a problem with her, say it to her face; otherwise keep it to yourself!" Here he looked slightly sheepish, but most likely it was only because he was caught by one of Jessica's friends when he talked about her. I glanced down at his desk and noticed the match, which he obviously hadn't made any headway on with the spell. "Why are you talking about other people when you can't even master the spell?!" I held up my pin triumphantly, enjoying the sour expression on his face, but then, for some reason, it cleared.

"Aha! But I haven't even tried yet! If you can do it in three, then I bet I can get it on the first go," he answered confidently. "Oh, really? If you don't, you have to do my Potions homework!" He looked down at his desk with a confident smirk and pointed his wand at the match, boldly reciting the incantation. Like on my first try, nothing happened. With a sympathetic smile, I handed him a roll of parchment with the title _The Uses for Porcupine Quills_ and said, "It's due Wednesday, so be sure to give it back by Monday!" He took it from me with a disgusted (and disappointed) look on his face.

I turned around, feeling satisfied. Ah, there's nothing like knocking a pretentious jerk down a peg. Replaying the conversation, my mind pinged on something. I realized that I hadn't told him that it took three rounds of the spell to make a difference in the match. Had he been watching me? Mentally shrugging, I disregarded that thought. He would have been able to do the spell better if he'd watched me do it. And, besides, he obviously didn't like me that much, so he wouldn't be watching me anymore, if he ever had. Most likely he was going to ignore me from now on.

Because we had a double period, I spent the rest of class advising the people around me how to do the spell. As inexperienced of a teacher as I was, most got the hang of it. I could hear the boy grumbling behind me every time someone made a difference in their match. At one point I was tempted to offer him tips, but his pride was probably too hurt for him to accept them. When Professor McGonagall took up the matches at the end of the period, she didn't seem surprised that it was mostly the Ravenclaws that had made the spell work, but what did surprise her was the radius of successes.

"Which one of you taught the others how to do it?" she asked, getting straight to the point. The people around me indicated me after a second when they realized I wasn't going to do it myself. It's not like I did anything particularly special; I just gave them some pointers and they were the ones who did the spell. She gave me a small smile, but only for a brief second, because by the next second she had turned away, telling those that hadn't mastered it that that was their homework assignment. Under my desk, I did a silent fist-pump and regrettably knocked my fingers against the bottom. I got a smile! From Professor _McGonagall_!

Soon the bell rang, accompanied by the usual hustle and bustle of people going down to lunch. I sat down with my friends at the Ravenclaw table and we talked over the lesson. I wasn't the only one who had managed the master the spell on their own, apparently. Only Jessica hadn't been able to, something she was ashamed of, but Melanie cheered her up by reminding her that she hadn't had as much time as the rest of us because Goyle had broken her match, cutting time off of her practicing. It really only took off 5 minutes at the most, but I wasn't about to bring that up.

Our next class after lunch was History of Magic, the single most boring class I'd ever had the displeasure to attend. On the first day, I still had my delusions and hopes that it would be an exciting class, judging on the bloody history of wars and rebellions that America was lacking. Since America was much younger, England's magical history would obviously be richer than the one I'd grown up hearing, right? When Professor Binns floated in, I was expecting an epic tale of history told by somebody who'd actually _been_ there, but, alas, the minutes he open his mouth to start his introduction speech, I knew that this was going to be one looong period. Even getting used to his monotonous voice hadn't made it better. I won't even bother telling you what the class was like that day. I took notes for most of the class time, but by the last 20 minutes of class, I was fighting for consciousness. That was still pretty good, though. For most people, it was the other way around. Toady was no different, either.

After that was a free period usually spent doing homework in the library or the common room. Since we were first years and it was only the first week, the amount of homework wasn't so bad. Our free periods this week had mainly consisted of strolling around the lake, relaxing in the common room, or exploring the castle. I rarely ran into anyone I knew during these times besides Max, Melanie, or Jessica, who I was with most of the time, but today I shoved my wand in my pocket and set out on my own to try to find our next class, Charms, so we could make it without difficulty when free period ended. All of the years traded off free periods, so 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th years were all having free time at that point while 2nd, 4th, and 6th years had had theirs right after lunch.

Wandering along the hallways, most of which were empty, I tried to remember where the Charms classroom was, but it eluded me. As I turned the corner, I nearly slammed into none other than Fred Weasley (as I found out later). Thankfully, I blurted out, "Fred!" instead of 'George!'. That could have been awkward...

He looked down at me in confusion just as Ron had done in Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. "Do I know you…?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Was the green hair all he recognized? Taking a step back, I cleared my throat theatrically and proclaimed, in a dramatic stage voice, "I, good sir, am the one, the only, the no longer green-haired…Alexia Hendrix!" I took an extravagant bow, bending nearly in half.

Comprehension dawned on his face. "Oh! Alexia! How are you?" I gave him a sarcastic half-smile. "I'm just _great_. However, I'd be absolutely spectacular if I could find my way to the Charms classroom. I don't suppose you could help me out?" Shooting back a half-smile of his own, his more playful than mine, he asked, "Well, aren't you a tad (20 minutes) late to class? And with no supplies! Tut tut, such a naughty first year you are!" Unable to hold it back, I rolled my eyes at him. "This is my free period too, you know. I just don't want to be late, so I'm finding the room ahead of time. I'm actually being an outstandingly awesome first year! Now be a dear and point me in the right direction, would you?"

I had forgotten who I was talking to. His face lit up in a smile and he held out his arm to me. "I'll do more than that, Alexia! I'll take you there myself," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. Trying not to be rude about it, I declined his arm but allowed him to escort me down the hallway. He acted like a tour guide, pointing to various classrooms, entranceways, and paintings, spinning fantastical tales around them that couldn't possibly have happened. "And here is the hallway that Godric Gryffindor used to use to train trolls to dance ballet!" I had attempted to maintain a relatively straight face, but the idea of trolls in pink tutus broke me.

As it turns out, the Charms classroom is on the third floor on the _left_-hand side. Fred, being the curious person that he was, started walking over to the forbidden corridor. Try as I might, I couldn't stop him from going over to the door. The only way for me to make sure he wouldn't get himself into trouble was to go with him.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Norris appeared right as we reached the door. Fred had his hand out to touch it, but quickly retracted it when he noticed the cat. She whisked off to get Argus Filch, her owner and the notoriously bitter caretaker. I grabbed Fred's hand and pulled him along the corridor, racing to get away from the cat and the quickly approaching wheezing of Mr. Filch. We ran down hallway after hallway, ducked through nearly 20 tapestries, slid around innumerable corners, and never seemed to get away from him. Always behind the last corner was his ragged breathing, coughing, and grumbled threats.

Finally, Fred pulled me behind a small, holey tapestry, ragged but solid enough for concealment, with a small alcove behind it. Huddling behind the tapestry, I realized I was still gripping Fred's hand tightly. Hiding a blush, I let go and peered out into the hallway through one of the holes nearest to my head. Fred also pushed himself closer to the tapestry. Of course, because he was beside me, that meant that he closed the space between our bodies to mere centimeters. We weren't pressed up against each other or anything, but he was closer than my usual personal space bubble allowed.

Now was not the time to do anything about it, however, because Filch was _right outside_ the tapestry, but he was bending over to pick something up. With horror, I realized that it was my _wand_! It must have fallen out of my pocket when I was running. Now he could identify me and I'd probably be expelled or given detention or my wand might be taken away or…

My mind spiraled into more and more horrible possibilities, but something Mr. Filch did distracted me. Holding the wand like a baton, he waved it in complex patterns in the air. Fred snickered silently, but I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was doing with my wand. While Mr. Filch said nonsense words, Fred whispered to me, "He's a Squib. He must be imagining being a wizard." When this point was made clear, I silently smacked him for laughing. It felt like we were seeing a side of Mr. Filch that no one had ever seen before and I wouldn't have Fred laughing at his vulnerability in this moment that he thought was private. However, another thought struck me, one with horrible implications. _My wand could allow_ _Muggles to use magic!_ If he tried an actual spell, he could probably make it work. Then he'd run off with it and I'd never get it back! Just as this occurred to me, Mr. Filch pointed my wand at a vase and flicked it, saying, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The vase lifted off the floor, shakily, but still rising. The looks on his and Fred's faces were priceless. Mr. Filch was so shocked that he dropped my wand, causing the vase to drop too and shatter, and ran away.

Seizing the chance, I snatched my wand from where it lay on the floor and then ducked back behind the tapestry. Fred was staring at the wand like it was an object from another universe. Feeling suddenly defensive, I hissed quietly, "Will you stop staring like that!" He blinked up at me, confused at my snapping, but I wasn't about to explain. Wasn't it obvious? Well, maybe it wasn't but whatever. He gave me a cautious half-smile reminiscent of the one from earlier and I suddenly noticed how the light caught in his brown eyes and how he had a bit of a dimple in his cheek. I also noticed I was sitting less than 2 inches away from him, making me a lot more uncomfortable than I had been five seconds ago. I looked away awkwardly, determined not to stare at him.

We waited in silence for Mr. Filch to come back, but he didn't. It must have really scared him, being able to do magic. We climbed out from behind the tapestry cautiously, alert for any sound of the caretaker, but heard nothing. I rounded on Fred. "You just _had_ to go check out the Forbidden Corridor! Don't you have any common sense? It's forbidden for a reason! If you do that again, you'll get caught for sure!" He frowned and took a step back at my sudden outburst. "Sheesh, there's no need to get so worked up, Alexia. I almost always get away from him, anyway. It's not like this was special or anything."

I didn't want him to get in trouble or worse and I had been so worried about him and getting away from Mr. Filch. 'No need to get so worked up'? There were plenty of reasons to get worked up! But the last part really hit me below the belt. His little tour _had_ been special to me; my own private guide, clever and funny, trying to make me laugh as he showed me around. Had it really not meant anything to him, just something to pass the time? Did he do this regularly? It's not like I had a crush on him or anything, but I wanted to mean something to him, as much as he did to me. He was a great guy, funny and smart, and I loved his family even though I'd only met them once. But I didn't know where I stood with him or how I honestly felt about him, considering how much cuter he had suddenly grown since I'd run into him. I was so confused!

"Not…special? I see. Which way is the marble staircase?" I asked numbly. His frown deepened, showing confusion. "Well, yeah, I've run from Filch multiple times. It's nothing special to get away from him is what I mean. And don't worry; I'll take you back to your common room."

"No." Oh, so he had meant getting away, not the tour. But why had I automatically jumped to that conclusion? I needed time to sort through my thoughts and emotions and go through all of the recent events. Besides, free period was almost over and we both needed to pick up our stuff for class. It would be quicker this way. However, this was not the right thing to say without explaining, which I didn't.

His face hardened with anger. "Fine. It's that way." He pointed down the hall behind me. "It was nice to see you too." It was then that I realized just how badly my last sentence had sounded. While I was distressed that I had hurt him, it also, in a twisted way, made me happy because it showed that he cared about what I said. It some form or another, he cared about me. Is that weird? As he turned away and was about to storm off, I said, quietly, "Thank you…for everything." He took a step away, his back still turned, but he swiveled his head to say, "You're welcome." I could see that bit of a dimple in his cheek, like he was holding back a small smile. I guess he couldn't stay angry for long. As I also turned away, I smiled a secret smile that no one saw, one that I didn't quite comprehend, one of relief and something else.

**A/N Is anyone else completely bummed that Spring Break is almost over? 'Here in an instant, gone in a flash' -Jack Skellington**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N Just a warning for all the Draco-lovers: there is going to be some Draco-bashing in this, but don't worry, things will get better between him and Alexia. I think I kept him pretty canon, but I didn't add in his famous line. I hope that doesn't make him less realistic. Also, at the beginning of the story, I said that Alexia had blue eyes, but she actually has grey ones. Sorry!**

The weekend passed in a blur. Whoever divided up the week obviously needs to go back to kindergarten because having only two days off with five days of work isn't equal! We did homework for most of Saturday but were fortunate enough to finish before Sunday rolled around, a day that we spent entirely outdoors, mostly playing Blind-man's buff, which was really hard because I kept falling into the lake or running into other people who weren't playing when I was blindfolded. The lake, with the Giant Squid floating lazily beneath the surface, was beautiful and serene that day, nearly flat from lack of wind. I could already feel the chill of fall creeping up on us and hoped it would hurry up. The closer it got to Christmas, the sooner I could see my family again. I wondered when I would get around to writing to them.

Of course, Sunday eventually passed too, far too quickly for my liking. Back in the jungle of classes again, homework was piling up. I was walking down the hallway on my way to lunch, pondering the charm Professor Flitwick had just taught us that I hadn't mastered and now needed to practice, when the pale boy from Transfiguration stepped into my path. Barely avoiding knocking into him, I said, "Hey, watch where you're walking-oh, it's you! Have you finished my essay yet?" He frowned at me but held out my scroll of parchment, completely filled out. "I was just coming to give this to you. And my name isn't 'you'. It's Draco Malfoy." I was surprised because I thought he would just blow it off or write all the wrong information, but when I gave it a quick once-over, everything seemed to be in order.

"Some way to get my attention, walking right in front of me. But thanks, Draco. It seems like you did a legit job. I was expecting you to blow it off, but you came through alright. I'm Alexia Hendrix by the way," I answered with a smile. I held out my hand, expecting him to shake it, but he stared at it. Did he not know how to shake hands or something? "Your parents, are they a witch and wizard?" What an odd question! I nodded but my expression was one of confusion. He relaxed and shook my hand.

Wondering why I knew the name Malfoy, I tried to remember, but I gave up. I'd remember later. I continued walking to the Great Hall and Draco came with me. "Why do you care if my parents are magical or not?" I asked as we reached the top of a spiraling flight of stairs leading to the marble staircase. He shrugged, saying simply, "I don't like Mudbloods." _What's a Mudblood?_, I wondered. When I asked, he explained, "'Mudblood' is a name for a muggleborn, someone with nonmagic parents. They're filthy people, basically accidents." Whoa, now! He really hated muggleborns! A line from _The Secret of the Morphers_ came back to me. "…but a few others feel a certain distaste for the minority; most of them being those who also despise Muggle-born witches and wizards-" I became wary of this boy. If he knew that I was a Metamorphmagus, he would tell everyone! They'd all shun and ignore me…no! He wouldn't do that; I was just being silly. _No one will shun or ignore me; it's all in my head_, I told myself. _Stop being so paranoid_.

"Have you ever met one?" I asked. He gave me a strange look. "Yes. There are a bunch of them here at the school. They shouldn't be admitted in the first place, but that's Dumbledore for you. He absolutely _loves_ Mudbloods." Why did he hate them so much? They couldn't be that bad. If the way he talked about them was any indication, he wouldn't have even given them a chance. He would probably spit in their face or something. I was starting to like this boy less and less, but maybe he wouldn't be so bad if I could get him off this topic.

"Oh, do you mean the Headmaster? I hear he's a great man!" We were nearly to the marble staircase now, still circling downwards. "However much people may praise him, I still think he's the worst thing that ever happened to this school," he replied carelessly. Sheesh, did he ever have anything happy to say? "He can't be that bad. He seems like such a friendly person! And what about his accomplishments? He discovered the twelve uses of dragon's blood, after all." It's amazing the things you can pick up in books. I'd just been perusing a random volume I'd pulled off a shelf in the library when I learned that. Draco seemed to consider this for a minute, but then shrugged, "Whatever." Scoffing at such an important discovery just because the discoverer didn't reject muggleborns? That did it.

"Oh my Lord, Draco! Can't you say _anything_ positive? And another thing; you shouldn't judge people on their heritage! Did you even get to know these people? No, I didn't think so," I exploded. I descended faster, trying to get away from Draco as fast as I could. He caught up with me easily because his legs were longer.

"Hey, wait up! I didn't mean it like that! And besides, I don't _need_ to get to know them. They're Mudbloods," he tried to explain, but it only made the situation worse. "Oh, so because they were born to Muggles, something completely out of their control, they're automatically the scum of the earth?" I shot back angrily. Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? "So you get it, then?" he said.

"Could you be more of a jerk? Seriously, what have these people ever done to you? Did they kill your family or steal your money? No, they just existed! Where's the crime in that, huh?" We had reached the marble staircase. By now I was flat out running, but Draco was still keeping up with me. The few students that we still going down the stairs gave us strange looks.

"Why do you care so much anyway, Alexia? And there's no need to call me a jerk!" he answered indignantly. It was time to stop running and just talk to him. I slowed down, both of us breathing hard. "Because I can't _stand_ unfounded judgments! And yes, you do need to be called a jerk, because, like I asked before, what have they ever done to you to deserve such hatred?" I came to a complete stop on the steps and stared up at him, grey into grey, waiting for his answer. He looked uncomfortable for a moment before replying, "They're just inferior, okay? It's not something that can be helped. My parents always told me that they were inferior and I believe them."

"No, it's not okay. Believe what you want, Draco, but keep it to yourself. Besides, there's a quote my grandmother used to say to me, 'Judging a person doesn't define who they are. It defines who _you_ are.' Think about that," I said, calming down. I felt sorry for him; he could have been a nice guy if he wasn't so prejudiced. As it was, he wasn't so nice now, and all the 'what ifs' in the world couldn't change that. I continued down the stairs to the Great Hall, but he didn't follow me. I had probably offended him again. As much as he may have needed to hear it, it kind of bugged me how much of a jerk I had been.

I had been in the Great Hall eating with Jessica for nearly five minutes when Draco came in. No, I wasn't watching for him, but since his table was next to mine, I saw him sit down. I pointedly ignored him, which wasn't hard because he sat down with his back to me. Jessica was, however, extremely perceptive today. "Considering how quiet you are and the fact that you keep glancing at the Slytherin table, I'd hazard a guess that there's a Slytherin that you're not very happy with at the moment. Spill, Alexia!" Dang, was it really that obvious?

"Well, there's this guy named Draco-" She cut me off right as I began. "Oooooh! Someone's got a boyfriend, someone's got a boyfriend!" she sang in an annoying voice that I was almost sure Draco could hear. I face-palmed because she had come to the exact wrong conclusion just because I said 'guy'. "No, no, you've got it all wrong. You see, back in Transfiguration on Friday…" I told her the story of meeting Draco and the bet that he lost, leaving out the part of him insulting her. When I told her about my suspicions that he had been watching me, her face lit up like she was going to start singing again so I hurriedly moved on to the conversation on the stairs. I asked her if she had heard the name Malfoy before and she said that it seemed vaguely familiar, but only vaguely, not really what I wanted to hear. However, what she said next was even worse.

"You know, Alexia, his behavior is suspiciously like the beginnings of a crush. As much as he acted like he didn't want to talk to you on Friday, he still did." _It's not like he had a choice_, I thought. I wasn't going to let him get away with talking about Jessica like that, but she didn't know what he'd said, so I didn't voice my thoughts. "And he actually did your homework, which is more than I would do in his position. I mean, he didn't even know your _name_ and he still did it!" "Yeah, that surprised me, too," I agreed.

"And you had a whole conversation while coming down to the Great Hall, heated as it may have been. By the way," here she lowered her voice. "I don't know if you could tell, but Mudblood isn't a very nice name to be calling someone. It's almost a curse word, actually."

"You know, I kind of figured as much. If you like a person, chances are you aren't going to call their blood dirty," I answered back just a tad sarcastically. Well, she had a point with all the other stuff. Maybe he _did_ kind of like me, even though that was absurd considering I'd only started talking to him on Friday. Well, I'd pretty much killed that now. But then again, I'd thought that he would ignore me on Friday, too. This was different, though. Basically, I had accused his parents of teaching him wrongly. That's a pretty deep blow, deeper than not being able to do a spell. He probably hated me now.

Suddenly, it hit me where I knew the name 'Malfoy' from. My Dad's contact in the Ministry that wasn't actually _in_ the Ministry was named Lucius Malfoy! Oh, crap, now I'd done it! I'd gone and alienated the son of my Dad's contact! This could jeopardize the mission if Draco told his Dad! I would have to apologize to him. _No, don't do that! You didn't do anything wrong besides be rude to him. He needed to hear it anyway. All you want to do is suck-up to him to get into his good graces_, a tiny voice whispered in my head. Another voice argued back that being rude is definitely grounds for apology and that if sucking-up kept Dad safe, then I would do it! He was in a dangerous situation here because if he got caught as a spy in the Ministry, he could be arrested and the federal government couldn't do anything about it. Besides, Draco might not even be his contact's son after all. Malfoy might be a common name in England. I'd have to ask Dad.

I must have been quiet again because Jessica asked, "What's going through that head of yours, Alexia?" It was better to go to the Owlery now while I still had some time left of lunch. "Huh? Oh, nothing. I just have to go send an owl home. I haven't seen Nyx lately; have you?" Most people's owl came to say hello in the mornings even without letters to deliver, but not mine. "Why would I have? She's your owl," she answered. She pulled out _Magical Draughts and Potions_ and started to read as I walked away.

The Owlery was on the far side of school at the top of the West Tower. I don't know if you've figured it out, but it's quite the hike to go from one end of Hogwarts to the other. 25 staircases, each longer than the last, 18 hallways, 6 left turns and 10 right ones later, I arrived at the Owlery, thoroughly out of breath. Nyx was waiting for me on a window sill, regal as always. I looked for someplace to sit, but failing to find one among the hay and mouse corpses, I stood to write the letter, holding the parchment against the wall for a writing surface:

Dear Mom, Dad, Lizzie and Mitzi,

I hope you're all doing well and that the apartment isn't too quiet without me. Everything is fine here; all the classes are interesting and the library is big enough to satisfy even me! I've met many new people already even though it's only the beginning of the second week here, including a boy named Draco Malfoy. His name was the same as your contact, Dad, so I was wondering if they were related. I haven't gotten into any trouble yet and I've managed to successfully master some spells, though they're only small ones that I'll probably never use again, like turning matches into pins. But that's beginning magic for you! I hope Nyx gets to you quickly so that you can respond.

Love,

Alexia

I reread the letter, satisfied with my work. I had slipped the question in casually enough that it wouldn't be suspicious and I could now send it with Nyx. It was a weight off my shoulders because I had been wondering when I was going to get around to actually writing home. Now I had done it and I could move on with my day. I turned and headed out of the Owlery, glad to get away from all those owls. Sure, owls are cool and all, but a bunch of owls together is creepy.

The walk to the common room was shorter than I expected, so I was surprised to find myself outside the door. Knocking, I hoped someone would have mercy on my and just open the door, but I had no such luck. In a sing-song voice, the bronze eagle's beak opened up and asked me, "What are the three powers of the phoenix?"

"Oh, I don't know! Can't I go in just this one time without answering?" I asked, irritated, not expecting anyone to hear me. Max, who had walked up behind me without my noticing, had quite a laugh at that. "Come on, Alexia. It's not even that hard of a question!" Yes, I could get in now! I'd just use Max for the answer.

"Okay, Mr. Smarty-pants. You answer it, then," I said, gesturing to the knocker. He stepped up to the door and, without missing a beat, knocked three times. The eagle repeated its question and Max promptly answered, "Super strength, healing tears, and the ability to regenerate." The door swung open and we walked in, Max smiling happily. I smiled as well in a resigned kind of way; he was indeed one of the smartest ones in our class. He was smarter than me at any rate. After thanking him for getting me passed the door, I collected my Potions book from my dorm, exited the common room, and headed down the long flights of stairs to the dungeons joining the rest of the students already down there, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Max, Melanie, and Jessica were all waiting for me.

When Professor Snape opened the door to the dungeon, we all flooded inside and sat down in groups of four at the tables. The four of us picked a table near the front, but not so close as to look too eager. This was actually only Jessica's favorite class; the rest of us disliked it, sitting in a cold dungeon surrounded by pickled animals floating in various solutions in glass jars. The creepiness of it all only made Professor Snape seem worse, his unhealthy look enhanced tenfold.

"Today, class, you are to copy the 12 uses of dragon's blood from the board. I suggest you study these hard because you will be having a test on them and I don't want any more miserable grades. Am I clear?" We all nodded and bent over our parchment. _Oh, the irony_, I thought. _I bet_ _Draco will ask if Dumbledore discovered them…no! Stop thinking about him and get your work done._

While it may not seem to be that hard or time-consuming to copy down something from the board, I assure you that, in this instance, it was. Professor Snape had teeny tiny handwriting and he gave detailed examples of each use for dragon's blood, all of which we had to copy. Most of the class period was spent squinting in the bad lighting at the board, attempting to decipher what he had written. I managed to finish with a few minutes to spare because I had an easier time of it, being closer to the board than some. This left me some alone time with my thoughts, which was exactly what I didn't need right now.

_I know he was annoying, pessimistic, and rude, but that doesn't excuse what you said. You need to apologize, even if he isn't the son of your Dad's contact_, I told myself angrily. _No! I won't apologize for what I said; he needed to hear it. I can't believe that he would actually think that anyone born to Muggles was automatically inferior! That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard._

_Don't apologize for what you said, just for how you said it. You exploded in his face and tried to run away from him! Right after he did your homework, too_, I countered_. _Well, I did have a point. However, my prideful side wasn't ready to give in just yet. _It's not my fault that he lost the bet. The homework has nothing to do with it and you know it! He should have done what any regular kid would_ _do and not do it at all_, I said stubbornly.

Mentally sighing, I replied, _Your father's job and reputation could be at stake here. Don't_ _be a whiny brat and just apologize already!_ After some mental grumbling, I decided that I would at least say I was sorry for running away during our conversation, which was all my pride was going to allow at the moment.

**A/N Okay, so I really want feedback on this one! Did I write a convincing Draco? And before you ask, no. Alexia isn't going to fall for Draco. Sorry folks, it's not in the game plan.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N It has come to my attention that Draco was erring towards the side of not-jerky-ness, and we can't have that, now can we? No, this isn't going to be a Draco/OC fic; I'm sorry to say that Draco is basically a means to an end in this one. I'd like to send a shout out to N (Guest) and Extended Experience for reviewing and thegreatandpowerfulidiot (nice name!) for following! Thanks to you and my Beta, Amethyst980, for helping me keep the story on track! I LOVE YOU GUYS! XD! That silliness aside, here, my dear readers, is the next chapter!**

Seconds after I came to this conclusion, the bell rang for our free period, jolting me out of my reverie. As we all exited the dungeon, Melanie came up to me and whispered, "Is everything alright? You were making a bunch of faces but I couldn't tell why. I was starting to get worried." Embarrassed, I answered, "No, I was just thinking. I'm steeling myself to do something I really don't want to do. Really, I'll be fine after I get it over with." She nodded, gave me a smile, and then fell back to talk to Max.

I walked a bit faster, craning my neck to see if Draco was anywhere in the vicinity. Of course he wasn't. The problem was I didn't know where to look for him. I couldn't check the Slytherin common room…or could I? I could simply cover up the Ravenclaw badge and pretend to be a Slytherin! No, all of the first years knew that I was a Ravenclaw. The jig would be up before it even started. In vain, I tried to think of other places I could check for Draco. The library, maybe?

I made my way down the hallway in the direction of the library, setting a brisk pace so I wouldn't be tempted to stop walking or turn around. Once in the library, I searched high and low for him, but I couldn't find him. Let's see, lunch was over, so not the Great Hall…he's a first year, so this was definitely his free period; that meant he wasn't in a class…there was nothing for it. I had no choice but to check his common room. But how?

I knew how but I didn't want to do it. _See, this is exactly the kind of thing that you _knew_ your powers would be used for if you kept them! Sneaking around into other Houses' common rooms__! Can you sink no lower?_, I thought at myself furiously, but I was already in the bathroom in front of a mirror. Making sure that no one was in the stalls, I got ready to change.

First, the hair needed to go. Maybe a white blonde like his? Nah, too noticeable; brunette was good enough. Plus, I needed an extra inch so it could cover my Ravenclaw badge. I also couldn't look like a first year because then he would know I was a fake. I added nearly two inches in height and a longer face. To have a little fun with it, I made my eyes bright green, a shade I'd only ever seen on a human once before, though which human I couldn't remember. Admiring my work in the mirror, I was only slightly recognizable, and only if you knew me well, which none of the Slytherins did.

From the depths of my bag, I pulled a scrap of parchment and scrawled 'Meet me at the bottom of the marble staircase, please.' Hopefully, he would actually do it. Most likely he wouldn't but it was worth a shot anyway. I exited the bathroom and entered the swarm of students enjoying their free period. Whenever I had seen Slytherins enter the Great Hall, they had come from the hallway that led to the dungeons. If I could find the right door, then I could deliver the message, assuming I actually found Draco, that is. I peered down the hallway and saw the retreating backs of a group of Slytherins, hopefully headed towards their common room. I followed them, trying to keep myself hidden but also act like I knew where I was going and had every right to go there.

They came to a stop in front of a stone wall that didn't really look all that important, probably the point. There was no knocker to ask them a question, so I figured there must be some kind of password or special something that they did to the wall. One student stepped up to the wall and said, quietly enough that I almost didn't catch it, "Salazar." A tunnel opened up in the wall, which the group crawled through. That's all I had to do? Geez, why couldn't _we_ just have a password?!

Sidling up to the wall, I leaned in and said, "Salazar." The tunnel appeared, just like before. I crawled through, hoping it wouldn't be too long. When I crawled out, I saw low black couches and windows looking out under the lake. There were skulls in wooden cabinets 'decorating' the walls and green lanterns, weak ones at that, strung about that gave everyone a pale, sickly tint. Could anyone get _any_ work done in this lighting? Seriously.

Draco was sitting in a corner with his friends, Goyle and that other kid he'd been sitting by. There was also a girl, the girl I'd seen at Ollivander's, but I didn't know her name either. I strolled over to them casually, walking up next to Goyle. I showed him the slip of paper with a slight smile, saying, "This is from a first year girl who absolutely _insisted_ I bring this to one Draco Malfoy. Do you know him?" He nodded and pointed at Draco. I handed Draco the slip of paper. He frowned and drawled, "Yes, I'm Draco Malfoy. Who was she?" The Parkinson girl frowned too, in a jealous way. "I don't know who she is but she's a pretty one," I answered with a wink. "I suggest you don't keep her waiting." As I turned and walked away, I heard the girl say, "You aren't actually thinking of meeting her, are you?" I sat down nearby, trying to act like a normal Slytherin, and pulled out a book from my bag, holding the cover down so that no one could see that it was a first year's book. "Yes, Pansy, I am. She sent someone down to get me, so I should at least see what she wants." He accompanied this with a smirk that I didn't like.

My eyes followed him surreptitiously as he crossed the common room and exited through the tunnel. Now all I needed to do was get out of here and get to the marble staircase while changing back to myself without people noticing. When Draco had been gone for about 10 seconds, I stood up and was about to leave when I heard a voice behind me say, "Who are you? I don't recognize you and I know everyone in this House." I turned around to see a handsome boy talking to me. _Just play it cool, Alexia,_ I thought. "Well, then, I guess you _don't_ know everyone," I answered haughtily, trying to sound like I owned the place. To add a bit of flair, I flipped my hair over my shoulder. Unfortunately, my hair was the only thing preventing my Ravenclaw badge from giving me away; now it was fully exposed.

"Ravenclaw!" he shouted as I turned and bolted for the tunnel. The only reason I could pull off being in their common room for was a prank. I had to pull of the trouble-maker act, so I flung a teasing good-bye over my shoulder. "You might want to look in on a more high-security common room." Grasping hands grabbed for my cloak to hold me back, but I was already in the tunnel and exiting quickly. Nearly flying down the hallway, I mentally beat myself up. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!,_ I thought angrily. _What were you thinking, exposing your badge like that?!_

Still on the run, I checked for pursuers, and, seeing none, quickly morphed back into myself. I slowed down and tried to catch my breath. I had escaped! Now all I had to do was apologize to Draco and get it over with. The Great Hall was fast approaching, but my face was still flushed and I was still gasping for air. How suspicious was that? Near an alcove, I stopped to regain control of my breathing and give my heart the chance to stop pumping so furiously. When I was satisfied that I was presentable, I walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall, and then stepped inside, looking around for Draco. He was nowhere to be seen.

Well, crap. After all I'd gone through to get him here, he'd not even shown up. Maybe I'd taken too long and he'd just given up and left? No I would have seen him go back to the common room if that was what happened. Where could he be? Then, I noticed him sitting, half hidden, on a step.

He stood up with a cold look on his face. "What do you want, Hendrix? And what were you doing in the dungeons?" I cursed on the inside but my face showed no expression. He'd seen me come from the dungeons hallway! How was I going to explain that away?

"Hey there, Draco! Haven't seen you in a while. Come here often?" I said, trying to avoid the questions. He wasn't amused; if anything, it made him angrier, so I got to the point. With my hands held awkwardly behind my back, I said, "Look, about what I said earlier-" He cut me off, "I don't want to hear it." I tried again, "I realize what I said was-" He cut me off again, "I said, I don't want to hear it. If that's all you have to say, then I'm going back to my common room." He started walking towards me and the hallway behind me. I blocked his way, determined to get my point across. "Listen to me, Draco! I want to say that I'm-" "Out of my way, Hendrix!" That did it.

"I'M SORRY, OKAY!" I screamed for the world to hear. He was so shocked that he took a step back, wide-eyed. It didn't last, though, because his expression became cold again. "Sure you are. Now let me by." "No! Not until you listen to me. I said some horrible things and I ran away from you during our conversation and it was right after you'd just done my homework, too. You took it all so well but I was so rude and no matter how wrong I may have thought you were, I should have handled the situation better. And I threw that quote right in your face, but you didn't even yell at me!" I was rambling now, trying to make him understand before he turned away from me again. "I was just angry because I kind of know what it's like, getting excluded for something you couldn't control and I couldn't believe you would do that as a matter of course and I, well…it's been bothering me, okay? What I said, that is." Darn it! I had said too much. Any minute now he would ask me what it was that I couldn't control. What was I going to tell him?

Instead, he laughed. "Alexia, you are the craziest person I've ever met. And I guess it's okay. If it's really been bothering you that much, then I forgive you. You _were_ pretty mean, though." I nodded ruefully, and he smirked. "At least you apologized," he drawled. _At least?_, I thought. _There's no_ '_at least' about it_. Checking his watch, he said, "Free period is almost half over. I'd better start on my homework. By the way, did you send this?" He held up the scrap of paper to show me. I nodded and lied, "Yeah, I asked the first Slytherin I saw. I had to beg, but she eventually agreed to take it to you." He nodded and then gave me a slight wave, turned, and walked back down the hallway to his common room.

I had an essay to proofread and a charm to practice along with a diagram for Astronomy to complete, but instead of doing homework, I found an empty classroom. Dumping my bag on the floor, I walked over to a window, pulled a chair over and sat, looking out the window.

That may seem like a total soap-opera thing to do but that's what I did. The letter was on the way, my peace had been made with Draco, and my homework pile wasn't that big. The only thing really bugging me was Fred. That tour-turned-escapade on Friday was front and center in my thoughts. Why had he even bothered? He could have just pointed me in the direction of the classroom and saved himself the trouble. But that was the thing. It didn't seem like it troubled him. He volunteered for it himself, had offered to show me when I had only asked to be pointed. Why?

I pondered this question, but couldn't come up with a likely answer. Maybe he likes you, like 'LIKES you' likes you? Nah, he's a third year and I'm just a first year. If anything, I would be like a little sister to him. It was a dare? He lost a bet? It was a joke, perhaps? No, the way he behaved afterwards when I refused him taking me back said that he genuinely had wanted to give me a tour and then return me to my common room. But why, Fred, why?!

He was such a frustrating person to try to figure out. It also didn't help that he was too cute for his own good. And that's another thing! Over the course of the maybe 25 minutes it took for the whole fiasco to occur, he had grown nearly 10 times more attractive. How had I never noticed that dimple or his fiery red hair, so close to my own? What about his eyes? They were like windows to his soul, warm and playful…stop that! No mooning over a guy you literally have met only twice!

I was obviously going to get nowhere like this. _Come on, shake it off, Alexia, shake it off_, I told myself. _Sure he's cute, but he'll need to have more than that. If you think about it, you don't actually know him all that well. He's a friend, albeit a rather attractive one, but still just a friend. Now back to the world of reality with you_.And so I went on with the rest of my day, feeling significantly less confused.

_Wednesday morning…_

I had just recently sat down to eat breakfast when the post arrived. Like I had yesterday, I watched the stream of owls for Nyx and today she was there. She swooped down gracefully in front of my and stuck out her leg for me to untie my letter.

About to burst from anticipation, I unrolled the letter and quickly read through it:

Dear Alexia,

It definitely has been really quiet without you, but don't worry; Lizzie has immersed herself in Quidditch, Mom in finding a job in the Ministry, and I in reading, so it's quiet anyway. We miss you a bunch and we can't wait for you to come home for Christmas! Yes, Mr. Malfoy does have a son named Draco, but I've never met him. Most likely it's the same person. What House are you in? You forgot to tell us in your last letter.

Hi, Alexia; this is Mom. How are your grades coming along? Are you getting three square meals a day? Make sure to remember to do all of your homework! I'm sorry to be saying all of this stereotypical stuff, but the motherly side of my brain is absolutely freaking out because you're hundreds of miles away and I can't be sure that you are. I'm hoping to get a job by Christmas in the Ministry, so I'm distracted enough as it is. Send me an update, okay? And Mitzi says to tell you hello from her.

Hey, this is Lizzie writing. I need you to do some recon on the Quidditch teams this year so I know what I could be up against next year! Don't forget any of the teams or players; I need names and stats. And how's the hair-thing going? I hope you're getting used to it.

Love,

Mom, Dad, Lizzie, and Mitzi

So I was right! Draco was Mr. Malfoy's son! _Not that it makes any difference_, I thought to myself, in an unconvincingly nonchalantly way. _You would have apologized anyway. _I reread the letter, hearing my family's voices in my head. It made me realize just how far away Christmas was. Ah, well. It would pass soon enough. And now I needed to break it to Lizzie that she wouldn't be playing until her second year. _Greeeat…_

That afternoon, Melanie came up to me and said, "Hey, Alexia! Max and I are going to go watch the Ravenclaw Quidditch try-outs at 6:30. Do you want to come?" My first reaction was to say no because I didn't much feel like watching a bunch of bad players mess up and embarrass themselves on broomsticks, but Lizzie had asked me to get some stats on the players, so I guessed I had better go. "Is Jessica going, too?" I asked, wondering if maybe this could be fun rather than just recon, which didn't sound that interesting. "I haven't asked yet," she replied, so we set off to find Jessica, eventually spying her in the back of the library.

"Jessica! Do you want to go the Quidditch try-outs with us?" Melanie asked excitedly. Jessica slumped in her seat. "I would love to, I really would, but I promised I'd tutor Terry Boot for the test in Potions." She looked like she could use a break but a promise is a promise. We left the library for Charms after free period ended, her still trying to collect her thoughts on what she was going to teach Terry.

When classes were over for the day, Max, Melanie, and I all set off for the Quidditch pitch while Jessica head up to the common room and Terry. We chatted amiably, but it was obvious to me that I was the third wheel here. Max and Melanie led the way down the lawn with me trailing behind, feeling a bit anti-social. We came early so that we could get good seats to watch the beginning warm-up before the actual try-out started; this way we could judge the best from the outset.

When we arrived, there were only Gryffindors on the field. We had come on the wrong day it seemed. I was about to turn and walk away with the others until I spotted two familiar ginger heads on the pitch. Well, why not stick around? I did have to do some recon for Lizzie after all. I turned to the other two and said, "I'm going to stick around to watch. Lizzie asked me to do some recon on the Quidditch players. Know thine enemy and all that. You two can go back without me if you want." Melanie gave me a look that said she could tell that I wasn't telling her everything, but she wasn't going to say anything in front of Max, who was thankfully less perceptive. She waved goodbye as they walked back towards the castle and I toward a seat.

Before I had reached the stairs however, I deviated slightly from my course to get a look at all of the auditioning players. Many were big and burly, but a few were light and speedy-looking. Most of those would probably be trying out for Seeker. I was debating about whether or not to get a closer look when an arm suddenly wrapped around my shoulder.

**A/N Whose arm could it be?! No, it's not Fred's. Let's just get that one out of the way first. And in the coming chapters I'm planning some encounters with the Golden Trio, but don't hold your breath! **


End file.
